recent comments

"Can someone explain why the Chief told Tim Lee that the 40 positions would help morale. It's not making me feel any better about things. Please help me understand"

"Well, unfortunately it appears that they genuinely do not care. You risk everything doing something you love and the only people who care are those to your left and right. Going upstairs to type my resignation letter..."

"I wanted to offer some of my thoughts on the new "plan".

1. The BOC approving 40 more positions is almost comical. That allows us to go from 70+ vacancies, to 110+ vacant slots. This solves none of the identified issues. In the long term, I think we'll need the additional manpower, but this is pointless at this time. Knowing the time frame to fill the vacant slots, the BOC is offering an item that will cost them nothing for at least 18-24months if we only hire new officers and lose no one else for the next 2 years.

2. The county routinely bought 30 +/- cars a year. For the past few years however they have gotten away from that. The fleet is now in shambles; with constant maintenance issues on high mileage cars and too few vehicles. Most of the cars being purchased are coming from last years budget, so again the BOC is minimizing their cost. This is a small step that barely addresses the condition of the fleet. It is money they have to spend and does not improve any of the identified retention issues.

3. The pay study is a waste of time and money. They haven't used the last pay study they did. We just got our first raise in years; the need is clear. The study they need to look into is why we have multi-million dollar surpluses, yet the county is in headed towards fiscal shambles by neglecting legitimate needs.

4. We have been told for almost a year that plates/helmets were coming. As usual the county keeps making promises of things we never see.

5. Officers buying their own rifles? While this county should be able to afford rifles for officers, I actually like the opportunity to buy my own rifle. Same as point 4 though...we've heard this for years w/ no follow through.

6. Studying assigned cars? See point 4 and 5 for why this will never happen. This is a noncommittal political answer to make it appear something is being done. Do they really think we're that dumb?

7. When I came to Cobb as a lateral, it was primarily due to its reputation. Money etc was important, but I would not have left my department for the Cobb we now have. The best recruiting tool we had was being the best most professional department w/ squared away officers. Tattoos, etc opens up our pool of candidates but to what avail? When I came 10 years ago, there was a line to get in the door; not us trying to figure out how to beg people to come.

Our current state reminds me of a Teddy Roosevelt quote- "The best thing you can do is the right thing. The next best thing you can do is the wrong thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.". The county has been doing nothing for far too long."

" County Managements True Colors 1

Wow! What a way to add insult to injury. Lets consider the proposal of the County Commissioners as stated by Director Heaton:
Items Approved:
Immediate (the numbers in parenthesis coincide with issues addressed)
1. The BOC will be asked to approve 40 additional police officer positions next week. This will help us to begin moving forward with a commitment toward 10-hour shifts. (1,2,4) **An additional 40 officers will need to be approved in the future to meet the staffing needs to meet the 10-hour shift transition. This will also allow us to begin re-staffing our specialty units.

This is nothing more than political sidestepping. There is no immediate cost to the county because the positions will not be filled. It is not possible with our current manpower deficit. This means nothing.
2. Thirty –seven patrol cars (Ford Interceptors) have been ordered and are scheduled to arrive in March. This order is to replace the order that was cancelled by the manufacturer last year. Another eight patrol cars has been approved for FY 14 along with twenty-two detective cars. We have support for adding additional cars to the police fleet as the 10-hour shifts take place in the Precincts. This will prevent officers from waiting on vehicles at the Precincts. This will also begin building a fleet for an assigned cars program if deemed appropriate. (1,2,5)

These were already approved in the budget, and frankly 37 cars will not replace enough of the old cars that have become increasingly dangerous for our officers to drive. The bottom line is that they were going to have to buy these anyway, but putting this out there makes it look like the commissioners are doing something for public safety. No additional cost to the county.

3. Pay and Compensation Study – A county-wide pay and class study will be performed this year which will include all positions and will compare all benefits including annul leave, sick leave, holidays, health dental, long term disability, retirement, tuition reimbursement, education, shift differential, assigned vehicles, etc. (1,2,3,4)

This one really gets me. “County wide pay study”, that is just what we needed. Public Safety does not need a “County wide pay study”. Public Safety needs a “Public Safety Pay Study”. We are not losing librarians and water department employees by the dozens. We are losing police officers. No more studies. Get it done! The end result of the last pay study is what we have now. Does that sound like a waste of money to you? Officers are leaving and this is the bottom line reason. This department will be terminal before a pay study can be completed. Cost the county $1 million plus.  "

" County Managements True Colors 2

4. An RFP is out for Ballistic Plates, Ballistic helmets, and ballistic plate carriers.

Already approved and taking forever! While this is great equipment for our officers it does nothing for retention or recruiting. No help. Very little cost to the county.

5. Working to supply all officers a patrol rifle and allow a buying program to allow officers to buy the patrol rifles through payroll deductions. This does not cost the county anything if it is a buy back.

This is also taking forever and is great equipment but again does nothing for retention or recruiting. No help. Cost the county nothing.

6. Develop a plan/procedure for assigned cars to include cost analysis and an advantages/disadvantages list. The plan will include all issues including any additional fleet costs, liability of the county for officers going to and from home, pay and workers comp issue, etc., and this program will be presented and discussed with the County Manager for possible adoption.

This is good but just talk. There was the same kind of planning in the early 1990’s when the commissioners were considering the purchase of a helicopter for an air unit. It was just talk then too. This again costs the county nothing.

7.Evaluation of our current recruiting, hiring, and training practices as compared to other departments in the metro Atlanta area and make necessary changes. Some issues include tattoos, lateral entry training, recruit losses during training, etc. (4)

LOL (laugh out loud for those of you without teenage girls) You could stand at our recruiting table naked and still wouldn’t attract any attention. It’s not about problems with our recruiting, hiring or training practices. Why does this continue to fall on deaf ears? It’s about incentives like money, insurance benefits, retirement and work hours all of which were pointed out by the previous survey. Once again no cost to the county.

Let’s recap. The only thing on the list of approved items that cost the county any real money is the County Wide Pay Study. A pay study that, as we have seen in the past, the county management controls the outcome of. The county management is willing to pay what I am certain will be more that $1 million dollars for a study. What will this study do one might ask. First, it will buy time for the county management. The study will take the rest of this year and it could take as long as another year to implement, if ever. Secondly, it gives the public the false perception that the county management is taking proactive steps to address the pay issue of the police department. This study will do nothing to benefit the officers of the police department. As a veteran of many years with the police department it is very disheartening to see this lackadaisical approach by the county management to a very serious problem. This is a failure of epic proportions. The county management has once again shown its true colors. "