This site was created as a way for Cobb Police Officers to stay informed about what is going on in their department and speak their mind without fear of reprisal
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
August open comments
24 comments:
Anonymous
said...
All- in the coming months, you will hear a lot of bad things about the upcoming SPLOST in Cobb County. However, I want to make certain you are informed about why the SPLOST is a great way to help public safety in Cobb County.
SPLOST spending is restricted in many ways. For example, the county cannot use a SPLOST to pay salaries. However, SPLOST funding can be used to purchase equipment with a long service life, to build roadways, and to construct buildings.
The use of a SPLOST allows the county to gain revenue for these types of projects using money spent by non-residents. For example, people from Cherokee County shopping at Town Center Mall are paying for these projects. This allows the projects to be completed without the residents paying the whole bill.
If the county paid for these projects out of the tax revenues from property taxes, the commission would be required to cut budgets elsewhere, raise the mill age rate and increase property taxes, or elect to scrub the projects.
This SPLOST contains a great deal of projects that will benefit Cobb County Public Safety. I hope all of you will support the SPLOST.
Well I read up on the Cobb County Police Initiative Plan. Some of the goals seems like a stretch...Over 200 officers hired by the time the Braves come to town? I don't know. I love the implementations of shift differential, Take home cars and money received for education, but! and this is a big but a lot of these initiatives will not be in place for almost two years! In that time I can get hired on with some other agency three times over! I just hope it won't be too little too late for a lot of the younger officers.
I cannot support a SPLOST that includes a 6th precinct. That is a total waste of money. The BOC needs to wake up and stop spending our money frivolously.
Regardless, a timeline with information has been released. Now officers can make an informed decision about the direction they and their family want to go. A lot of this still depends on the approval of the yearly budget. The 2015 budget will be presented to the Commissioners on August 12th and they will vote on it August 26th.
In regards to SPLOST, to a lot of us it is a now brainer. In the past roads, bridges, buildings, school, etc. have been paid with SPLOST. What is so great about it is at the end of the build they are stamped with "Paid In Full". The cost is not borne only by the property owners in Cobb County but by all who reside in the county and any passing through. For those that can't see past it and will vote no because the county should put these types of things in the regular budget, my response is "How has it worked for everyone so far". My philosophy is if one pot is empty lets look for another full pot.
I know right !! a SPLOST? a 6 th precinct ? what the heck are they thinking. Cause then the County would have to promote a Major, Captain, 3 LT, 3 Sgt, and fill it with officers we don't have. We can't afford to look 3 years down the road. We need repairs to several precincts NOW, we need more car's for the take home program NOW, The SPLOST has a dang TRAINING CENTER in it too. We don't need that now, I'm cool with shooting night fire in 25 deg with 15 mph winds, or in 95 deg heat with NO wind, Just because Gwinnett, Douglas and Cherokee have indoor ranges don't mean we need one. The bad thing about a SPLOST is it cant be used for salaries. I forget how many hundreds of million of dollars they say the SPLOST would bring in TOTAL but I believe 12 million is pay for the take home cars. I think you're right on target... Lets make the County pay for the take home cars out of the general fund. I mean its not like they're going to give us raises out of it. I like your lets " throw the baby out with the bath water" attitude!! I mean WTF !! they want an extra penny from every dollar in retail sales... We have been paying 6% tax for as long as I can remember, Without the SPLOST Cobb County will be the ONLY county in Ga with a 5% sales tax. HELL YEAH take that GA !! See that way we wont be counting on Cherokee, Bartow, Paulding, or Douglas residents to help Cobb generate monies so that the BOC can FRIVOLOUSLY spend it. They'll just raise the property tax and put all they're frivolous spending on the backs of the Cobb County home owners.
friv·o·lous ˈfrivələs/ adjective not having any serious purpose or value. ie: Take home cars
DUMB ASS noun Slang: Vulgar. a thoroughly stupid person; blockhead. ie: not voting on the SPLOST
I can agree with your opinion of the SPLOST but it appears that the majority of voters in the County who are not Public Safety are already dead set on voting no....or so it would appear. Everything that hinges on the SPLOST in that "Plan" would not happen and then what
So, you are voting "No" for the SPLOST because there is a sixth precinct on Tier 1? The listed items will be funded in the next SIX years. It does not mean they will begin construction on the new precinct Jan. 2016. They can begin construction on Dec. 2022.
Throw the baby out with the bath water is not a tactic that will force the commissioners to remove "unneeded" items. If they were going to pay for the assigned vehicles out of the general fund the program would have been implemented 20 years ago.
The chief had to fight for 2-3 years for the commissioners to see the PD retention and equipment problem. We have FINALLY seen a glimmer of light. I'm not saying I don't like the extended time for the new incentives but it better than we had when I began 17 years ago.
Historically, about 22% of the county citizens vote during midterms which is this year. The majority of people that vote are retirees and those who follow politics. The SPLOST will pass in November based on the citizens I spoken with. They understand that SPLOST is better than higher property tax. Fulton Co. just raised property taxes SEVENTEEN PERCENT! The Cobb citizen would not allow drastic increased property tax. As "anonymous" stated Cobb has maintained roads and basic acceptable government services because of the SPLOST. If the SPLOST pass, we would turn in DeKalb County and Clayton County. Watch...
Let's not forget the assigned vehicle program has a RESIDENCE requirement. In Cobb Code that means you have to live in Cobb. So 70% of the rank and file can forget about a car.
The Commissioners or the powers to be wouldn't even observe the current take-home car policy. Nothing will change until Hankerson and Lee are gone.
I think we should reach out to Austin P.D. after the SPLOST FAILS and have them come to Cobb. All they have to do is read this blog and the recruiters will be salivating at the opportunity.
If the Plan doesn't benefit All Of Us then I'm voting NO.
Wow that is really short sighted. "If they don't give me mine now then I am voting no!" Don't know how to respond to the Austin PD comment. Now sure how many former Georgia Officers are enjoying what you see to think is a paradise in the great state of Texas. It all boils down to those that that want to stay and make it better instead of griping and abandoning ship need to throw support behind the SPLOST. There will be a time a place to battle the residency issue should it arise.
The assigned vehicle program will not have a RESIDENCE requirement once everyone has a car but that will take years....if ever. The same mileage restrictions will be in place so if you live 70 miles one way yeah you are probably gonna park that car. I for one would just like an assigned car that no one else drives even if it stays at a Precinct. Just being able to leave your gear in it minus weapons would be a huge plus and no one else is tearing it up. It would also stay as clean as you prefer to be at least the MDT and steering wheel should only have your own germs on it. If the take home car policy ever happens the Chief and other command staff personnel will be the one who decides who gets the cars and where the cars can go. I feel confident that IF it ever happens the same policy that STEP uses will be used by all.
If 6 years in the waiting is "short sighted" then I'm guilty also. I guess another 6 years is acceptable for them to continue the stall tactics. I guess I shouldn't value my dedication, experience, training and education. I guess my family and I doesn't deserve better.
I guess I should look longer down the road and HOPE things CHANGE. I think I've heard that somewhere before. The opportunity for major and necessary changes is now. It's not going to come again.
The public safety directed visited precinct 3 the other day. He put himself in front of a room of pissed off cops and opened the proposed plan for comments. I wad not a Sam Heaton fan before this. However he stood in front of us and said to let him have it. And he answered our questions to the best of his ability. People need to remember not every person in the chain has every answer. If take homes happen a big part of how they will be distributed will be up to the chief. We currently have a 25 mile from headquarters policy for take homes and a similar program will probably be how it starts. If having your own car that you can drop at the closest police station is not good enough for you I would like to say look where we are now. Its a heck of a lot better than what we have now. You have to walk before you can run and I say its a good start. We can fight for more later but if in two years from now I have a take home car, education pay and night diff that looks a whole help of a lot better than what we have now. We are not going to get everything we want, this is government work after all.
On another note Heaton gave permission to go around the chain of coming and comment to him directly about this plan. Questions, concerns, and input on the details were welcome. I suggest people take him up on his offer and email him their comments directly. Or keep posting on this blog and hope someone else will share tour ideas. I say we have an invitation to speak to him directly and we should take it.
Also he said they are looking at the nepotism policy and fire is writing a proposal to loosen it. Heaton supported the idea.
It sounds reasonable to me to wait another 6 years for that $60 million dollars...even though the BOC can come up with an additional $30 million dollars over night for the Braves stadium. Let's not forget the only reason for Precinct 6 is so uncle bob's constituents don't have to use their own money to start up the East Cobb Police Department. I also don't think a little outside pressure would hurt our situation. Maybe the Board of Commissioners should see first hand how another agency sees the true value in us. I don't think a little competition hurts anyone. Just sayin.
We have lost some damn good officers due to the nepotism policy, the dept needs to drop this antiquated practice! It could give them a better and broader pool of applicants.
The pay study questionnaire has come out in the email. I am very disappointed to see and hear my fellow officers say they are not going to fill it out because it is so long. They complain that they will not do it because it would take up to three hours. If you look at the questions it is obvious that it designed to give the county ammunition to break parody with the fire dept. Some officers have fought and put in the hours and money to make this change happen, but other officers will not commit three hours of their time to fill out a questionnaire that will help them. It is very sad. The fire department is going to have a plan about filling this out. They will all sit in the station on duty and work together so as to come up with the best answers for them. They will be organized, but our officers won't even fill it out on their own.
It appears that our wonderful (sarcasm) Director (a.k.a. puppet) of Public Safety is at it again. Now before I get started I will say this. There was a story that he challenged some firefighters to "come get some" in reference to shift differential pay. I must admit that was a step (a very small one) in the right direction. Sooooo...just when we think you are starting to round the corner.....you go and do the following and totally redeem yourself (more sarcasm).
I read an article in the Marietta Daily Journal after the BOC voted on the budget. In the article there were quotes of Tim Lee and Bob Ott lying as usual about how public safety is their number one priority. Now there are two ways we know that Time Lee and Bob Ott were lying. 1) Their mouths were moving, 2) Look at their past voting history (especially Ott's) and it will show they don't and have not given a damn about public safety. The bottom line is they are starting to feel some pressure in the press and now they are trying to back pedal and make it look as if they actually give a S#@!....... And Hankerson.....that moron has been caught lying so much he doesn't even hardly open his mouth any more (that's not a bad thing). Now back to Old Sammy Boy.
Then there was Sammy Boy...now he is starting to take some credit for the police improvement plan....really? Sammy says he is looking for a plan that is long term and sustainable...Sammy Boy in all his infinite wisdom claims that a short term bonus would be great but at the same time the bonus would be gone by Christmas. Wow I am speechless, now it seems as if our illustrious Director (puppet) of Public Safety is a financial advisor too. How lucky are we? Now we have someone to tell us when to change the batteries in our smoke detectors and to "look out" for our money. For Christ's sake Hankerson must have given you a lot of slack in your leash to go and make such statements to the media. All that was missing was the organ music in the back ground (think of a little monkey on a leash etc...)
I got a question puppet....what does it matter if the money is gone by Christmas?...the bonus might have gotten some more officers to stay. Or better yet....that bonus, that was spent by Christmas, would have been for that officers family for gifts...wow mind blowing huh? But oh well...better not give those cops a bonus...they'll just blow it by Christmas anyway.
You think that what "you" have put together is sustainable huh? We'll see, there is a long time until it "goes into effect". I think the only input that you have had was when your secretary gave the improvement plan back to you with all the arrow stickers showing you were to erase Forsythe's name and replace it with your own. I mean come on....why do you think that you were appointed in a matter of hours?
Since were on the topic of Christmas...here is my Christmas wish....
Dear Santa: All I want for Christmas is a Director of Public safety that has some balls much like Director Forsythe!
Really sad. Comments like this serve no purpose other than they are self serving B.S. A large group of folks have put in a lot of time and effort to make things better. It took several years of neglect for the department to get in its current condition and it is not going to be fixed in a matter of days. The plan for improvement has been presented and is now in each officers court to decide what is best for them and their families. If it is not in your best interest then maybe it is time for you to leave.
I noticed at the Commissioners Meeting the other night when the budget was discussed and voted on, I counted about 8 active officers who were interested enough to be in attendance. By god it is your livelihood where were you?? Didn't see anyone who is thoroughly disgusted with the current situation to step up to the podium and tell the Director, Commissioners or County Manager what they thought of them. Where were your comments when the chips were on the table?
I'm kinda confused as to what this budget passing was supposed to do for us. I mean shift differential is supposed to be coming at the first of the year but what is supposed to happen next. They pay study won't even be completed until sometime in 2016. The raise they are reporting that they are giving us is the annual elusive merit that has began to slowly reappear is their idea of a raise. The whole county gets that. What exactly are they doing to keep officers here. Oh yeah that's right NADA! The education incentive is after the pay study is done if they deem it appropriate. Anybody know anything heard anything else about cars??? The Cobb County Police Improvement Plan was a way to shut us up and get us to quit coming to their BOC meetings. Public Safety is not their priority. Parity may be broken but so what we will continue to lose officers. On a side note I only know of one officer who has left since this "plan" was announced so perhaps it is working for the powers that be.
Just a comment for the person who manages this blog can you go ahead and add a "September Open Comments" section when you have a free minute. The officers have seemed to stop posting for a while but we need to keep this blog fired up because, they still haven't done anything to "fix" the problem they created.
Check your head gear really sad.....self serving B.S.....nah. Several years of neglect, you bet there has been. Now the plan has been presented and its up to the officers. This is true and I hope they choose wisely whatever the outcome may be. I hope they don't hang their hat on the "kicking of the can". I feel that our Chief wants to make good on those things for his officers and I hope that it happens.
Looked like a lot of things in the improvement plan were contingent on the SPLOST. If the SPLOST doesn't pass then those things will get done but it will take longer. Mmmmm.
So you noticed that there were only eight active officers huh? You say its my livelihood and where was I? Hmmm when was the last time you saw an officer speak his or her mind to a Director, BOC, or the County Manager with out retaliation. Any officer that would get up in a BOC meeting and speak his or her mind and question the shoty practices would essentially be run out of the county. The last time the officers made their biggest showing what happened? Oh yea that's right....nothing the BOC voted for forty more positions. Forty more vacancies...wow. Oh yea I forgot they voted to add some more vehicles.
It is interesting that you mention how it has taken several years of neglect for the department to get into it's current condition. It is also funny how you say that it wont be fixed in a matter of days. You are correct and those are valid statements. I find it interesting that when it comes to the Braves, all of that "stuff" happens over night. It wasn't an issue at all to find the millions needed for the Braves. Now when it comes to correcting the issues within the P.D. it is going to take YEARS. You say comments like the above serve no purpose. I don't agree completely with the way that it was written, but there are some valid points brought up. You say that there were only eight officers there at the meeting, and it seems as if you feel there should have been more. You know what makes a bigger statement than a meeting room packed with active officers? All of the ones that have walked out of the door over the past several years. All of the officers who have walked out of the doors while the Director, Commissioners, and the County Manager did nothing.
I think that there were two officers that were leaving Precinct Three. I couldn't agree with you more, it is a valid point. In a post above it is referred to as kicking the can. I don't think that you can kick a can that long without being called on it eventually. I guess only time will tell.
24 comments:
All- in the coming months, you will hear a lot of bad things about the upcoming SPLOST in Cobb County. However, I want to make certain you are informed about why the SPLOST is a great way to help public safety in Cobb County.
SPLOST spending is restricted in many ways. For example, the county cannot use a SPLOST to pay salaries. However, SPLOST funding can be used to purchase equipment with a long service life, to build roadways, and to construct buildings.
The use of a SPLOST allows the county to gain revenue for these types of projects using money spent by non-residents. For example, people from Cherokee County shopping at Town Center Mall are paying for these projects. This allows the projects to be completed without the residents paying the whole bill.
If the county paid for these projects out of the tax revenues from property taxes, the commission would be required to cut budgets elsewhere, raise the mill age rate and increase property taxes, or elect to scrub the projects.
This SPLOST contains a great deal of projects that will benefit Cobb County Public Safety. I hope all of you will support the SPLOST.
Well I read up on the Cobb County Police Initiative Plan. Some of the goals seems like a stretch...Over 200 officers hired by the time the Braves come to town? I don't know. I love the implementations of shift differential, Take home cars and money received for education, but! and this is a big but a lot of these initiatives will not be in place for almost two years! In that time I can get hired on with some other agency three times over! I just hope it won't be too little too late for a lot of the younger officers.
I cannot support a SPLOST that includes a 6th precinct. That is a total waste of money. The BOC needs to wake up and stop spending our money frivolously.
Regardless, a timeline with information has been released. Now officers can make an informed decision about the direction they and their family want to go. A lot of this still depends on the approval of the yearly budget. The 2015 budget will be presented to the Commissioners on August 12th and they will vote on it August 26th.
In regards to SPLOST, to a lot of us it is a now brainer. In the past roads, bridges, buildings, school, etc. have been paid with SPLOST. What is so great about it is at the end of the build they are stamped with "Paid In Full". The cost is not borne only by the property owners in Cobb County but by all who reside in the county and any passing through. For those that can't see past it and will vote no because the county should put these types of things in the regular budget, my response is "How has it worked for everyone so far". My philosophy is if one pot is empty lets look for another full pot.
I know right !! a SPLOST? a 6 th precinct ? what the heck are they thinking. Cause then the County would have to promote a Major, Captain, 3 LT, 3 Sgt, and fill it with officers we don't have. We can't afford to look 3 years down the road. We need repairs to several precincts NOW, we need more car's for the take home program NOW, The SPLOST has a dang TRAINING CENTER in it too. We don't need that now, I'm cool with shooting night fire in 25 deg with 15 mph winds, or in 95 deg heat with NO wind, Just because Gwinnett, Douglas and Cherokee have indoor ranges don't mean we need one. The bad thing about a SPLOST is it cant be used for salaries. I forget how many hundreds of million of dollars they say the SPLOST would bring in TOTAL but I believe 12 million is pay for the take home cars. I think you're right on target... Lets make the County pay for the take home cars out of the general fund. I mean its not like they're going to give us raises out of it. I like your lets " throw the baby out with the bath water" attitude!! I mean WTF !! they want an extra penny from every dollar in retail sales... We have been paying 6% tax for as long as I can remember, Without the SPLOST Cobb County will be the ONLY county in Ga with a 5% sales tax. HELL YEAH take that GA !! See that way we wont be counting on Cherokee, Bartow, Paulding, or Douglas residents to help Cobb generate monies so that the BOC can FRIVOLOUSLY spend it. They'll just raise the property tax and put all they're frivolous spending on the backs of the Cobb County home owners.
friv·o·lous ˈfrivələs/
adjective
not having any serious purpose or value. ie: Take home cars
DUMB ASS
noun Slang: Vulgar.
a thoroughly stupid person; blockhead. ie: not voting on the SPLOST
I can agree with your opinion of the SPLOST but it appears that the majority of voters in the County who are not Public Safety are already dead set on voting no....or so it would appear. Everything that hinges on the SPLOST in that "Plan" would not happen and then what
So, you are voting "No" for the SPLOST because there is a sixth precinct on Tier 1? The listed items will be funded in the next SIX years. It does not mean they will begin construction on the new precinct Jan. 2016. They can begin construction on Dec. 2022.
Throw the baby out with the bath water is not a tactic that will force the commissioners to remove "unneeded" items. If they were going to pay for the assigned vehicles out of the general fund the program would have been implemented 20 years ago.
The chief had to fight for 2-3 years for the commissioners to see the PD retention and equipment problem. We have FINALLY seen a glimmer of light. I'm not saying I don't like the extended time for the new incentives but it better than we had when I began 17 years ago.
What would happen if the SPLOST failed?
Historically, about 22% of the county citizens vote during midterms which is this year. The majority of people that vote are retirees and those who follow politics. The SPLOST will pass in November based on the citizens I spoken with. They understand that SPLOST is better than higher property tax. Fulton Co. just raised property taxes SEVENTEEN PERCENT! The Cobb citizen would not allow drastic increased property tax. As "anonymous" stated Cobb has maintained roads and basic acceptable government services because of the SPLOST. If the SPLOST pass, we would turn in DeKalb County and Clayton County. Watch...
Let's not forget the assigned vehicle program has a RESIDENCE requirement. In Cobb Code that means you have to live in Cobb. So 70% of the rank and file can forget about a car.
The Commissioners or the powers to be wouldn't even observe the current take-home car policy. Nothing will change until Hankerson and Lee are gone.
I think we should reach out to Austin P.D. after the SPLOST FAILS and have them come to Cobb. All they have to do is read this blog and the recruiters will be salivating at the opportunity.
If the Plan doesn't benefit All Of Us then I'm voting NO.
Wow that is really short sighted. "If they don't give me mine now then I am voting no!" Don't know how to respond to the Austin PD comment. Now sure how many former Georgia Officers are enjoying what you see to think is a paradise in the great state of Texas. It all boils down to those that that want to stay and make it better instead of griping and abandoning ship need to throw support behind the SPLOST. There will be a time a place to battle the residency issue should it arise.
The assigned vehicle program will not have a RESIDENCE requirement once everyone has a car but that will take years....if ever. The same mileage restrictions will be in place so if you live 70 miles one way yeah you are probably gonna park that car. I for one would just like an assigned car that no one else drives even if it stays at a Precinct. Just being able to leave your gear in it minus weapons would be a huge plus and no one else is tearing it up. It would also stay as clean as you prefer to be at least the MDT and steering wheel should only have your own germs on it. If the take home car policy ever happens the Chief and other command staff personnel will be the one who decides who gets the cars and where the cars can go. I feel confident that IF it ever happens the same policy that STEP uses will be used by all.
If 6 years in the waiting is "short sighted" then I'm guilty also. I guess another 6 years is acceptable for them to continue the stall tactics. I guess I shouldn't value my dedication, experience, training and education. I guess my family and I doesn't deserve better.
I guess I should look longer down the road and HOPE things CHANGE. I think I've heard that somewhere before. The opportunity for major and necessary changes is now. It's not going to come again.
The public safety directed visited precinct 3 the other day. He put himself in front of a room of pissed off cops and opened the proposed plan for comments. I wad not a Sam Heaton fan before this. However he stood in front of us and said to let him have it. And he answered our questions to the best of his ability. People need to remember not every person in the chain has every answer. If take homes happen a big part of how they will be distributed will be up to the chief. We currently have a 25 mile from headquarters policy for take homes and a similar program will probably be how it starts. If having your own car that you can drop at the closest police station is not good enough for you I would like to say look where we are now. Its a heck of a lot better than what we have now. You have to walk before you can run and I say its a good start. We can fight for more later but if in two years from now I have a take home car, education pay and night diff that looks a whole help of a lot better than what we have now. We are not going to get everything we want, this is government work after all.
On another note Heaton gave permission to go around the chain of coming and comment to him directly about this plan. Questions, concerns, and input on the details were welcome. I suggest people take him up on his offer and email him their comments directly. Or keep posting on this blog and hope someone else will share tour ideas. I say we have an invitation to speak to him directly and we should take it.
Also he said they are looking at the nepotism policy and fire is writing a proposal to loosen it. Heaton supported the idea.
Can't make 60 million dollars in changes in a couple of days. It takes time.
It sounds reasonable to me to wait another 6 years for that $60 million dollars...even though the BOC can come up with an additional $30 million dollars over night for the Braves stadium.
Let's not forget the only reason for Precinct 6 is so uncle bob's constituents don't have to use their own money to start up the East Cobb Police Department.
I also don't think a little outside pressure would hurt our situation. Maybe the Board of Commissioners should see first hand how another agency sees the true value in us.
I don't think a little competition hurts anyone. Just sayin.
We have lost some damn good officers due to the nepotism policy, the dept needs to drop this antiquated practice! It could give them a better and broader pool of applicants.
The pay study questionnaire has come out in the email. I am very disappointed to see and hear my fellow officers say they are not going to fill it out because it is so long. They complain that they will not do it because it would take up to three hours. If you look at the questions it is obvious that it designed to give the county ammunition to break parody with the fire dept. Some officers have fought and put in the hours and money to make this change happen, but other officers will not commit three hours of their time to fill out a questionnaire that will help them. It is very sad. The fire department is going to have a plan about filling this out. They will all sit in the station on duty and work together so as to come up with the best answers for them. They will be organized, but our officers won't even fill it out on their own.
Title: Oh Sammy Boy (said with a sigh)!
It appears that our wonderful (sarcasm) Director (a.k.a. puppet) of Public Safety is at it again. Now before I get started I will say this. There was a story that he challenged some firefighters to "come get some" in reference to shift differential pay. I must admit that was a step (a very small one) in the right direction. Sooooo...just when we think you are starting to round the corner.....you go and do the following and totally redeem yourself (more sarcasm).
I read an article in the Marietta Daily Journal after the BOC voted on the budget. In the article there were quotes of Tim Lee and Bob Ott lying as usual about how public safety is their number one priority. Now there are two ways we know that Time Lee and Bob Ott were lying. 1) Their mouths were moving, 2) Look at their past voting history (especially Ott's) and it will show they don't and have not given a damn about public safety. The bottom line is they are starting to feel some pressure in the press and now they are trying to back pedal and make it look as if they actually give a S#@!....... And Hankerson.....that moron has been caught lying so much he doesn't even hardly open his mouth any more (that's not a bad thing). Now back to Old Sammy Boy.
Then there was Sammy Boy...now he is starting to take some credit for the police improvement plan....really? Sammy says he is looking for a plan that is long term and sustainable...Sammy Boy in all his infinite wisdom claims that a short term bonus would be great but at the same time the bonus would be gone by Christmas. Wow I am speechless, now it seems as if our illustrious Director (puppet) of Public Safety is a financial advisor too. How lucky are we? Now we have someone to tell us when to change the batteries in our smoke detectors and to "look out" for our money. For Christ's sake Hankerson must have given you a lot of slack in your leash to go and make such statements to the media. All that was missing was the organ music in the back ground (think of a little monkey on a leash etc...)
I got a question puppet....what does it matter if the money is gone by Christmas?...the bonus might have gotten some more officers to stay. Or better yet....that bonus, that was spent by Christmas, would have been for that officers family for gifts...wow mind blowing huh? But oh well...better not give those cops a bonus...they'll just blow it by Christmas anyway.
You think that what "you" have put together is sustainable huh? We'll see, there is a long time until it "goes into effect". I think the only input that you have had was when your secretary gave the improvement plan back to you with all the arrow stickers showing you were to erase Forsythe's name and replace it with your own. I mean come on....why do you think that you were appointed in a matter of hours?
Since were on the topic of Christmas...here is my Christmas wish....
Dear Santa:
All I want for Christmas is a Director of Public safety that has some balls much like Director Forsythe!
Really sad. Comments like this serve no purpose other than they are self serving B.S. A large group of folks have put in a lot of time and effort to make things better. It took several years of neglect for the department to get in its current condition and it is not going to be fixed in a matter of days. The plan for improvement has been presented and is now in each officers court to decide what is best for them and their families. If it is not in your best interest then maybe it is time for you to leave.
I noticed at the Commissioners Meeting the other night when the budget was discussed and voted on, I counted about 8 active officers who were interested enough to be in attendance. By god it is your livelihood where were you?? Didn't see anyone who is thoroughly disgusted with the current situation to step up to the podium and tell the Director, Commissioners or County Manager what they thought of them. Where were your comments when the chips were on the table?
I'm kinda confused as to what this budget passing was supposed to do for us. I mean shift differential is supposed to be coming at the first of the year but what is supposed to happen next. They pay study won't even be completed until sometime in 2016. The raise they are reporting that they are giving us is the annual elusive merit that has began to slowly reappear is their idea of a raise. The whole county gets that. What exactly are they doing to keep officers here. Oh yeah that's right NADA! The education incentive is after the pay study is done if they deem it appropriate. Anybody know anything heard anything else about cars??? The Cobb County Police Improvement Plan was a way to shut us up and get us to quit coming to their BOC meetings. Public Safety is not their priority. Parity may be broken but so what we will continue to lose officers. On a side note I only know of one officer who has left since this "plan" was announced so perhaps it is working for the powers that be.
Just a comment for the person who manages this blog can you go ahead and add a "September Open Comments" section when you have a free minute. The officers have seemed to stop posting for a while but we need to keep this blog fired up because, they still haven't done anything to "fix" the problem they created.
Check your head gear really sad.....self serving B.S.....nah. Several years of neglect, you bet there has been. Now the plan has been presented and its up to the officers. This is true and I hope they choose wisely whatever the outcome may be. I hope they don't hang their hat on the "kicking of the can". I feel that our Chief wants to make good on those things for his officers and I hope that it happens.
Looked like a lot of things in the improvement plan were contingent on the SPLOST. If the SPLOST doesn't pass then those things will get done but it will take longer. Mmmmm.
So you noticed that there were only eight active officers huh? You say its my livelihood and where was I? Hmmm when was the last time you saw an officer speak his or her mind to a Director, BOC, or the County Manager with out retaliation. Any officer that would get up in a BOC meeting and speak his or her mind and question the shoty practices would essentially be run out of the county. The last time the officers made their biggest showing what happened? Oh yea that's right....nothing the BOC voted for forty more positions. Forty more vacancies...wow. Oh yea I forgot they voted to add some more vehicles.
Oh and by the way....I am not going anywhere.
It is interesting that you mention how it has taken several years of neglect for the department to get into it's current condition. It is also funny how you say that it wont be fixed in a matter of days. You are correct and those are valid statements. I find it interesting that when it comes to the Braves, all of that "stuff" happens over night. It wasn't an issue at all to find the millions needed for the Braves. Now when it comes to correcting the issues within the P.D. it is going to take YEARS. You say comments like the above serve no purpose. I don't agree completely with the way that it was written, but there are some valid points brought up. You say that there were only eight officers there at the meeting, and it seems as if you feel there should have been more. You know what makes a bigger statement than a meeting room packed with active officers? All of the ones that have walked out of the door over the past several years. All of the officers who have walked out of the doors while the Director, Commissioners, and the County Manager did nothing.
I think that there were two officers that were leaving Precinct Three. I couldn't agree with you more, it is a valid point. In a post above it is referred to as kicking the can. I don't think that you can kick a can that long without being called on it eventually. I guess only time will tell.
Post a Comment