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
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Jan/Feb 2020 Open Comments
Upcoming BOC Meeting Dates:
Jan 14... 0900
Jan 28... 1900
Feb 11... 0900
Feb 25... 1900
183 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The new patrol cars have recruiting stickers.... PROBLEM SOLVED!!!
So according to the Chairman in his last video there will be a vote on Step and Grade at the next commissioners meeting. Is there anyone else that thinks it's fishy that nobody knows whats in it?
It's like they have to pass it so we can see what's in it.....
So Boyce is in the paper promising "Huge" and "Gigantic" things are coming! Well, forgive me for doubting, but I have a few trust issues....which have been reinforced by the frequent misrepresentations of the truth by the leadership within this county.
If its such a great thing, then why are Boyce and the BOC being so secretive about it? They've floated the last two ideas out in front of the troops. The first they "couldn't afford" and the other one they were quickly told what a $#!^ sandwich it was and would tank morale even further.
Do they not want to give anyone a chance to give them feedback on this one? If its so huge and gigantic, why not try to help the last bastion of morale left in this department by putting the information out there?
"Under such a plan, every public safety employee would be guaranteed a specific wage determined by his or her years of service (step) and rank (grade)." I wonder if they will again forget the other Public Safety Employees like Animal Services, 911, and the administrative personnel for all departments that are in fact "Public Safety Employees" themselves.
And I bet the HUGE raise won't include all public safety (rule of 80) employees. You know the ones that intercede on a daily basis with the newer officers and keep them from getting sued.
Taken from a December 3rd, 2019 post but still a great idea. It's Competitive and Fair. Step in Grade Plan POI: $45,776 (First 18 months) POII Step/Year 1: $51,291 Step/Year 2: $53,134 Step/Year 3: $54,976 Step/Year 4: $56,818 Step/Year 5: $58,661 Step/Year 6: $60,503 Step/Year 7: $62,345 Step/Year 8: $64,188 Step/Year 9: $66,030 Step/Year10:$67,872
Current officers are brought in at their respective Step/Year based on years of service.
To the person who came up with the idiot idea to do a step in grade that rewards employees who have less time invested in this county than those who have gone with less longer. Penalized for being a good employee and sticking around.
What is this BS? "On an officer’s five-year anniversary $7,500, ten-year anniversary $5,000. These incentives would require a five-year commitment and if an officer left they would need to pay the prorated portion back to the County."
Is the county going to make this retroactive? They Should!!
The step in Grade is a joke and a spit in the face to those that stuck it through the hard times. I said spit and not a slap. The elected and CS under Boyce have failed us.
Only a true step in grade that rewards the officers for actual time with the agency is what should be accepted.
By implementing the plan as is you again punish the officers that their pay is in a compressed state by using their salary of now as a starting point.
Cobb County, you have become the genius of the X Factor. Basically you operate so darn shady you would not know reality if it was served to you from your own mother.
It has been sad to watch and be in a position that we can't move to another place of employment because we invested our lives here.
To you all. Thanks for nothing and this proposed step in grade is just that. A pile of _ _ _ _ (nothing)
The continued speech given by the CS that they had it worse as they stuck it out is a dang joke too. Most of you have been out of the real work for so many years that you have no clue what policing today is like.
For you 01's over 5 years. You have been off the street and off the beat that you cannot truly understand what your officers have to deal with from both sides.
For all that are higher than these 01's. Strap your gear on. Pick a precinct and see what its like to work today on the streets of Cobb County. I mean actually show up to these Precincts that operate short handed. Do that instead of having lunch and glad handing the many someone you do.
Try this method instead of saying you will cancel the annual leave of the little guy while you are dang sure not personally affected.
Chief Cox, you should mandate all Captains and above be the first to fill the beats of our Department from time to time. I mean Heck, have you seen how many Captains and Majors this Agency has. I see them popping up everywhere on the promotion emails. Then we never see them.
Oh, and we won't buy they have too much administrative work load. Let's see how much you and the entire CS truly want to help out. Come feel the pain for yourself.
Whatever Boyce and the boc says is BS!! It's the same script we've heard for over 10 years now. Regardless what they say they'll come up with some excuse, like a looming recession, and a "maybe next year" response. It's the C-O-B-B way, Count On Being Broke!!!!!
One thing that I saw on the news today was that Fulton County School Resource Officers have outer vest carriers and we still do not. But in the grand scheme of things I’m really not surprised...be patient and give the CS 15-20 years and they’ll make it up to you!
I remember when veteran officers would ask new officers why they stayed in the department with their current pay and retirement. Now that the BOC is considering enhancing the pay for new officers, those same veterans are asking what about us. Veterans have a retirement that we all should envy, why would you want to block this step in grade? Look out for your brothers and support this plan!
I'm trying to be patient. I really really am. But it's starting to look like lies were told at active shooter training... To quote the late great Robin Williams- your move, Chief.
PS- Which vest we get is just as important as getting them in the first place. Don't blow this for us sir. Please.
Some people might look at this sort of thing and think we're whining about stuff that doesn't matter. But in reality we're just tired of the county dragging their feet over simple things that should've been done YEARS ago. The process taking awhile is understandable. But it's a process that should've already been over with by now. There's no excuse for us still wearing uniforms that were in style in the 1970's.Even the military moves faster than Cobb. And not just when it comes to combat uniforms. Even the dress uniforms that hardly ever get worn.....
Uh.....are you implying that the precincts are NOT still short handed? I don't know which precinct you're at but we have had guys come in and work their off days and still been running multiple beats open. If your Pct isn't short, send some of those bodies this way.
You guys are worried about the clothing you wear and if you can have hair on your face...
Then at the same time you cry about not having the old pension yet aren't willing to put away the same 7.75% into your retirement (that pensioners do) to get the maximum match out of the county.
Veteran/Rule of 80 or a newer Hybrid officer it doesn't matter. If we dont get a TRUE Step in Grade, like Atlanta PD or Gwinnett PD, it's just a Pay Schedule no different than what we have now. Officers will continue to leave for better and every 2 or so years the county will continue to spend $90k to train one recruit for the same 70 to 80 positions. That's atleast $6.3 MILLION DOLLARS the county wastes every 2 or so years instead of reinvesting it in the officers with better pay. Bottom line, fixing the manpower crisis in the police department IS NOT A PRIORITY for the boc. It NEVER HAS AND NEVER WILL!!
You realize there are scientific studies on the benefits of this particular clothing, right?
You realize hybrid guys make significantly less money than pensioners, right? You realize it took pensioners decades to work up to putting in those percentages, right? You realize hybrid guys have been here for less than 10 years, right?
Big vote coming at the Jan 28 BOC meeting. This is next Tuesday night at 1900 and will be for the new pay plan. Call it what you want, if they pass it on Tuesday it may hit paychecks by the end of March. Let's show up to show our interest. They are supposed to have a couple more work sessions before the vote but I believe the final proposal has to be made public prior to the vote.
The new proposed pay scale has been published on the county clerk's web site. Search for "cobb boc agenda" and it's the first hit. There are links to the documents in the January 28 agenda. One document contains all public safety base/MCP/top out numbers and the other has the 16 step pay scale for Officers thru LT's.
So they have slightly increase what they were going to do for each step but have still decided to slot officers based on what they are currently paid instead of years of service as a true step and grade would. This is not different that what was proposed last year other than the slight increase in what each step gets. If there is no plan to slot officers by there years of service this is not a true step and grade.
If I were allowed to grow a frikkin' beard none of this would matter. People would stay, recruitment would go up, and attitudes would change. Beards would fix everything. Let's Duck Dynasty the hell out of this department.
If this isnt the writing on the wall for the hybrid officers I don't know what is. A 5 year man will make what a 1 1/2 year man makes. This compression will be repeated for every 2 or 3 years for the 30 years you will be hear. As a 16 year man I will get a penny raise and be a grade 5. If the county honors this every year, and that is a huge if, I will retire at a grade 13. If you stay hear 30 years then realistically you will retire at grade 7 or 8 because the county don't give raises but every few years. Get out now while you still can.
The truth is everyone from probably 6 or 7 years and down will be on the same pay grade. This is a major problem. I hope they present some future plan to address this but I do not trust the BOC or any politician to do what they say they will.
Don't lose sight of the fact that everyone under $46K will be moving up to that grade. That will be a huge raise for many. A side effect will be many folks in the same grade.
Don't lose sight of the fact that everyone currently under $46K will be raised to that level. That will be a huge raise for many. A minor side effect will be many folks at the same grade. Complaining about that is like complaining about having to pay taxes on a lottery jackpot.
You are wrong, complaining about the major amounts of compression within the department of public safety is important. This is not a true step and grade. If you don't understand that and cannot see why this is a problem you are an problem too. The comparison to a lottery jackpot is asinine and really shows a lack of understanding of rewarding loyalty. This compression is not a minor side effect. The purpose of the step and grade is to reward those who stay with a department. Even ATLANTA can get it right. But Cobb County leadership cannot seem to pull their heads out of their fouth point of contacts and understand how this works. While this "step and grade" may be good for the one to two year officers, it is very bad for basically anyone else. It is also bad for the citizens of Cobb County who constanly lose experienced officers to other departments. Those experienced officers make better decisions than most new officers. Those better decisions result in better outcomes in almost every facet of police work. Also, not having to train 100 new officers each year just to barely break even on retention would save taxpayers money. But hey lets focus on only the short term and continue to kick the can.
This isn't going to be an over night fix. This is step 1.
The next step is getting the county board of commissioners to recognize and do something about compression.
The Firemen are planning on going to the commission meeting Tuesday evening at 7pm. The desire is to get the commission on the record committing to working on the compression issues.
The Police Dept should make their presence known as well.
The problem is there has been nothing said to us about what step two or three might be. AND THIS IS NOT A STEP AND GRADE. The sooner everyone understands this the sooner we will understand this is a half measure. Not even half really since it addresses zero current problems other than raising our starting pay which is to address recruitment. While recruitment is a problem, the more serious problem is retention.
Has anyone heard how or if the step and grade would affect specialty and FTO pay? Since that's currently based off the market control point, which would no longer exist.
It looks like the 10% would be around $2.80 and the 5% would be $1.40. That is based off of https://cobbcoga.civicclerk.com/Web/GenFile.aspx?ad=3113 which is the classification and pay schedule.
As it has been stated, the new guys need to pay attention to this, and to history. Once you hit 5 years hear you will be the ones being compressed. You will find yourself being here 5 to 15 years at pay grade 3 or 4 and making a dollar more than a new hire. Ask the 5 year man if he thought he would go in at pay step 1 and get a penny raise. Ask him if he thought a 1 1/2 year man would get a 3 dollar raise so they make the same.
Raising the MCP of a grade doesn't mean that everyone in that grade gets a raise. But this plan raises the MCP of Captains, Majors, Dep Chiefs and Chief by 12%. And they are not part of step/grade. For comparison, LT MCP is +3%. Sgt +4%. PO2 +7%. And here's another data point that does not necessarily mean anything: the MCP for Police Chief in 2017 was $112K. Currently it is $150K, and this proposed plan raises it to $169K.
It is actually incredibly different from what we have now. No more having to sit around and guess what the top out or mid point is for your pay grade, because it's all buried somewhere. No more having to wait on the wizard math to come out to say what the "X factor" is. No more hoping that your Sgt isn't too lazy to put in the ridiculous amount of effort needed to justify you an exceeds to get the extra 1%....of the mystical X factor. No this is infinitely better than what we have now. Will it result in compression for those who have been here 5 or less? Yes, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Is that a bad thing? Yes. Is it the end of the world? Nope. I've been here long enough to be on both ends of the compression issue. One raise that came out.....10 or 15 years ago, most people got 33 cents an hour out of it. The battle cry then was 33 cent don't pay the rent. I got $1.70 something out of it because I was compressed. It will eventually sort itself out. And even if it doesn't, enjoy the raise we're all about to get and move on.
If I'm not mistaken, those not on the step & grade, like captains and above, water department, librarians, basically everybody else in the County, will still have to rely on the old X factor raises that will be based on a percentage of the mid point. So raising the bottom, mid, and top out for captains and up actually doesn't mean that ANY of them will be getting a raise, unless they're below the new minimum. It just means that any future raises they get will be bigger. Because that percentage will be calculated off of a higher mid point.
Why is EVERYTHING we get a "step one"? I mean seriously I've been here over a decade and I don't recall any legit step 2's. Everything has been a half measure accompanied by promises of more. We get told to be patient because nothing gets fixed over night, but in reality nothing gets fixed! Probably how GTAC was coined in the first place. A small raise is nice, but is it worth the added compression?
I tuned in on YouTube last night to the meeting just in time to see the vote and see the step and grade approved. I know the email that came out a month or two ago said they were looking at two options, either moving you into the closest step to what you make now, or the step above that, the "plus 1" they called it. I haven't heard which was decided on, does anybody know?
Stop drinking the koolaid it's NOT a true "step in grade". It's a pay schedule and no different than what we had it's just now public and on paper!!!!!
And it's NOT like a TRUE step in grade in the law enforcement community. Once you do a little google searching outside of the southeast you'll see what a real law enforcement step in grade looks like. And please tell how it's "infinitely" better? Because like the 1:12PM post said it's a PAY SCHEDULE and it does nothing for compression. A true step in grade DOES NOT need approval every year from a governing body (boc), the steps are automatic. Because if you've been an officer with cobb for 10-15 years the raises approved by the boc are like every 3-4 years. So a Step 1 officer will take based on my math (3×16=48), 48 years to top out or more realistically only reaching Step 10 if you stayed 30 years. And like Atlanta and Gwinnett a "step" is equal to a "year of service".
According to the video sent out today by Director Crider it looks like those of us that have been here several years will only get bumped up to the next pay grade if we are between pay grades. If that's the case, I'm in for a .19 cent raise! How awesome is it that! You stay hoping, wishing for things to improve only to get sucker punched again and again! What a joke!
0-300: Intro and promise for Q&A document to answer FAQs
301-720: Implementation of "Step & Grade" will cause serious compression. Implementation addresses recruitment but not retention of 4+ year personnel.
721-1520: Director Crider's sales pitch that Cobb is a great employer with great opportunities and that Good Things Are Here (#GTAH).
1521-1844: BoC's "desire" is to give step increase and merit increase in October of 2020. Possible plan to address compression involves moving employees with 7 or less years into the correct Step (based on years of service) in 2021, employees with 8-12 years into correct step in 2022, and employees with 13+ years into correct step in 2023.
1845-2335: Funding sources for local government are limited and largely tied to property values. No guarantees can be made for future raises or funding. Director Crider does not acknowledge or address commitments made by BoC related to stadium or to Cobb's exceptionally low millage. Director Crider believes BoC wants the best for us and they want to increase our pay, but no commitments can be made.
2336-2548: Three year hypothetical plan would increase costs about $6 million per year. Director Crider believes that if fund aren't available now that a millage increase is possible after 2020 election. He calls out anyone saying that BoC hasn't made Public Safety a top priority, saying it has been their priority but that they haven't fixed our problems.
2549-2900: Mentions policy changes to attract new/younger employees with no specifics. Stresses they are aware of compression created by "Step & Grade" but that they'll work hard to fix that problem. Director Crider asks for "confidence" that he'll propose plans to BoC to address compression.
2901-3220: October increase, if it happens, would be Step increase for all (3%) and plan is to increase Step each year in addition to the group adjustments.
3221-3605: Command staff not included in "Step & Grade". Director Crider will discuss compensation with command staff and make sure "perception" isn't that command staff got a better deal than hourly. Director Crider doesn't want a raise but will talk with command staff about their deal. Compensation comparisons with other agencies should be made at all levels of rank. Cobb Fire Chief makes less than any other comparable agency.
3606-end: Asks command staff to encourage employees to watch the video. Director Crider was disappointed with lack of participation in recent survey. Gives example of survey input being used in current plan. Notes that the process has been "rigorous" and "political", and that not all of the BoC was initially on board. Stresses that several people have been working to get the "Step & Grade" implemented. He wants questions submitted through chain of command.
Yeah they really pushed that through without any consideration to the folks who have been here a while. It doesn’t solve the compression issues at all. It only benefits the new folks. I can’t see if input was received how anyone would get on board with it. Now they’re gonna hide behind this and claim we gave you a step and grade. Oh well at least we’ve got updated uniforms and equipment, sorry no we don’t.
It's NOT a "Step & Grade"!! It's a Pay Schedule!!! And the BoC's "desire" / promise to their 3 year plan to correct "steps" to reflect "years of service" is straight up BS!! And a mileage rate IS NOT necessary for the BoC to do the right thing and turn this PAY Schedule into a TRUE "Pay & Step" plan. Why doesn't the mileage rate need to be raised to do this? According to the January 2020 edition of the Cobb Business Journal the Cumberland Community Improvement District (CID) allowed local and state governments to collect a combined $443 MILlION in taxes in the CID each year and cobb county's take each year is $61 MILLION! In case you didn't know the Cumberland CID, according to their own website, the CID is only 6.5 square miles, it impacts 5.4% of Georgia’s economy and It makes up 36% of Cobb County’s economy. What cobb's leadership fails to realize is that WE as law enforcement officers know how to investigate or find information and they fail to realize we know BS when we see it. Actions speak louder than words and public safety IS NOT a priority for the BoC or the Step & Grade would be based on years of service now just like Atlanta and Gwinnett PD.
1521-1844 Now that makes sense, let's pay those with less years of service first and not reward those first that have stuck it out as GTAC continues. But that's the cobb way. Expect the best!!
To all. This was a recruiting event with all of the coconspirators, Chiefs Office and Command Staff, BOC's, HR, and Crider.
The emphasis was to open their ability to recruit officers to patch the bleeding holes.
I mean really! Chief Cox, you have the audacity to send an email to those of us that still get in the dirt out here on the street in todays environment and recruit.
I will do my best to deter folks from climbing on board this sinking ship.
Especially in the environment created by your tenure in the Command Staff, maybe not as Chief, but definitely not with the force.
You all with elected or appointed officials have made this Agency a has been Department.
No longer are we the Superior Agency we use to be. We no longer enforce the law because of an opinion by some that it does not matter.
You mandate officers not arrest persons for no license, but want them to arrest a suspended driver. Idiocy.
Marijuana is illegal, citations and fines, if no longer arresting, should be the answer. Allowing illegal activity is not the answer.
We are enforcers of the laws of this State.
You decision makers have discounted all those voters who say marijuana should remain illegal.
What other law will you choose to avoid in the future.
Do you bow to all special interest groups as you have for this one.
The law is the law. Enforce it to ensure the general safety and rights of the citizenry. To maintain order and civility so that we can grow and prosper as a community.
I shall not as an officer create revenue by citation for you or this county if you deny me the ability to enforce all laws.
I will not permit Cobb County to take money from those who participate in the success of our business owners because they were in a hurry.
Unless their event interferes with another. I will turn my head as you have for the marijuana and license issue.
We don't need an email telling us how good a job we are doing either. Especially immediately following the stab in the back pay event that transpired.
What does he mean by lack of participation? Anyone that has been with this department more than five years would be able to see that this plan was not a good one. That’s why they pushed it through. It amazes me what a political puppet folks become when they take that director’s position.
Dont agree with everything, but having been the cobb +/- 15 years and getting +/- a 15 cent raise there is now way I will help with recruiting efforts!! If CS truly thinks this was a good idea than they are obviously not in touch with the rank and file. It's simple human nature, while would anyone help someone who had continually screwed them over for the last 10 years!! I haven't and would never recommend cobb to family or friends when there's so many better options in the metro area and I will be very honest how cobb lacks to appreciate its officers and lack competitive and fair pay/benefits.
I guess you can always donate your .19 cents to someone else.
This site has become nothing but what appears to be disgruntled officers who are constantly ranting about something. Nothing worthwhile is ever accomplished by any of the posters.
Why keep Ducimus alive? To have a place for a handful of people to complain?
I have worked for other departments and have seen the same thing. A small group of disgruntled officers that's only accomplishment is to destroy any good attitude that younger officers may have. What a pathetic life purpose.
Maybe he cannot quit because he has invested his life here. How about you just quit and go type people quit kissing the brown spot on the A-s of this BOC and Command. How about you, yes you coward ass lock arms with those of us still willing to fight. That is unless you have been out of the real work of this profession for so long and are the problem, not the solution. This agency is divided and the command is doing its best to widen the gap by accepting the BS deal and attempting to sell it as a "Good Thing"
Well said Sir or Ma'am. You beat me to the "Quitter's" comment. If you can't handle the truth stop reading the posts. This is nothing new. The boc passed a pay plan, calls it a step in grade and adds more promises of GTAC real soon. Sound familiar? Of course it does! This bs isn't going to fix recruiting or retention until you provide your officers a competitive and fair pay/benefits. And only then would you have 500 recruiters, Zero openings and a waiting list.
I am sure I will be blasted for this, but can we at least give some credit to Interim Director Crider and Chief Cox? We have seen more raises in the past year than we have in the previous 5 combined. I know it's not what everyone hoped for and I agree the Commisssioners are trying to put up a front without any substance, but what we have received lately isn't that bad. I do not trust the BOC, but I have faith in Crider and Cox. Director Crider says there will be more to come....there is only so much the two of them can do, and I believe they are doing what they can.
I still don't trust all you outside of the county Officers that insist on a millage rate increase. How many of you are willing to raise your property taxes for your local enforcement agency. The BOC works for all of the county. I'm almost certain that businesses and the super rich citizens in Cobb county has made it clear to the Chairman that any increases in the millage rate will result in a departure of their business. Stop being so self centered or go ahead and leave with the others so that we can recruit and employ loyal individuals.
About 30 yrs ago the commissioners stripped the county down to bare bones in an attempt to reduce costs. They began pulling construction and infrastructure projects out of the budget and putting them in a SPLOST. That is why it is a nut roll to find money for things like salary hikes and building renovations. Because there is essentially nothing in the budget to cover the cost without raising the millage. It essentially got everyone used to ultra low taxes but dependent upon the SPLOST to fund the building projects and left the salary portion on a slow roll to hell. It is the same way officers get dependent on extra jobs with no real way to fix any issues that arise.
Especially when you lack the "Political capital" to propose a millage increase.
Also, check out the "East Cobb Alliance" Facebook page. It turns out Mr. Ott has been helping the framers with getting the City of East Cobb off the ground using county employees providing data.
There is a lot of maneuvering and posturing going on now as we head into election season. Rest assured your salary and public safety is not on the front burner.
Ott is leaving and has anointed his replacement in the election who I imagine will be an obstructionist as well.
Funny how future boards were obligated to allocate funds for the stadium but can't guarantee what equates to a cost of living raise every year.
I’m with your partially. You see a bunch of fiscally conservative folks sound like a bunch of liberals as soon as taxes relate to their salaries. However...until the county is ready to cut costs on non essential functions in order to fund higher priority projects there seems to be no other solution than a mileage increase. We continue to offer more services without increasing the rate as which revenue is generated.
I see an awful lot of empty CCT buses everyday... the taxpayers of Cobb subsidized about 13 million a year for that service back in 2011. You could almost buy every daily rider a small car for that price... it’s certainly enough to fix the PD salary crisis.
The flaw with this argument is that it fails to mention how artificially low Cobb's millage rate is currently. Those living outside the county can back a millage increase because we pay higher taxes where we live. Even if Cobb raised the millage appropriately, it would still be lower than anything those of us living outside the county pay.
Is Cobb under a flash flood warning yet due to all the crying and tidal waves of tears from you guys? I'm not in Cobb but I want to make sure if I need to head that way I am prepared for it.
I am completely baffled at the resurgence of the "well then, just quit" attitude. Are y'all serious?! That's what got us into the pickle we are in, PEOPLE DID QUIT. Hundreds of them. And everything went to shit. Then there was the rise of the "complainers" that led to most if not all of the arguably good things we are seeing now. Now as soon as we start seeing a silver lining it's back to "quit if you don't like it."
I don't know if y'all are rookies that weren't around before or command staff slinging koolaid, but you might want to stop and think about your attitude. Just a thought.
Isn't bad? Maybe you are one of these coddled little new hires and just got a huge raise. If not that, then blind. A raise given to those for doing absolutely nothing in the trenches to “EARN” it. We, the senior veterans, stayed because WE ARE CCPD, we are not job shoppers. We have been here through some good and some really bad times. We are still here!! Beginning to wonder if what we have put our families through by staying was worth the effort. It is us that made the stories about "COBB, Count On Being Busted" a reality. We enforced the law. Yes all laws. Traffic Enforcement here was known from coast to coast. We use to even do truck inspections and made a greater affect on the trucking community in keeping Cobb Highways safe than the State did. We are the ones that made this a once revered agency. The River use to actually work and kept the thugs away. We did not care who you were that were involved in illegal activity, we jailed your ass, PERIOD! We struggled with this community through good and bad economic times. We stayed while becoming a hated profession. Being called racist, bigots, Uncle Toms along with other hatred names of choice. Just for doing OUR JOB. Thanks to Obama and his cronies for creating hate across the country and making racial differences a tool. Officers worked hard regardless of the rhetoric you hear today, WE ARE and HAVE NOT BEEN a RACIST Department. Now this county has used that same tool in creating division within the ranks of race and pay. Making decisions based on creating their KODAK moments so they can look pretty on FB. Moving these young kids to special units and putting their face in pictures for appeasement is actually a spit in the face to those that have scars from their years of keeping the bad guy at bay. This and providing raises to unseasoned officers for recruiting posters equates to wrong the absolute wrong answer. There are many that know this is a fact but know they cannot say anything because it will appear discriminative. Lateral movement to any type of specialty unit should be based off ability, seniority and work ethics and not a photo op. Raises should be given based on time in the trenches. The first order of business should be the ones who suffered. It is called triage. Stop the bleeding first. The bleeding is the loss of veteran officers who actually keep the newer ones out of a civil law suit. In the midst of this suffering the county is telling senior officers to sit and watch us hire by lowering our esteemed standards, put them in the newer cars than yours, and provide them a larger raise than you ever dreamed of getting. So isn’t bad? I think it is very bad if you are able to look at the entire picture or as we are trained to do. Use the “Totality of the Circumstances.” I’m here. Not leaving because I’ve invested my wife, kids, entire family and self in this and too close to the end to start over. So for those who say quit. I say, do the right thing and take care of those who took care of you to get you where you are today.
I have believed this all along about Ott. That City of East Cobb movement is gaining momentum and no one is paying attention. Why else would that slovenly troll leave his post as commissioner? He’s one of the biggest dirtbags up there.
C’mon you’re in Cobb, you’re one of those who cower behind the rank on their collar. You’re only trying to play like you’re not. This post almost reeks of a vertically challenged CS who used to work here! Who allegedly up and retired out of the blue. Gee, I wonder why?
Is you are unhappy with your current professional circumstance, you have no one to blame but yourself. I hope the “rookies” learn one thing from the veteran that are still humping a beat, GET YOURSELF PROMOTED! Look for increased responsibility, do more than show up 4 times a week. Then and only then will you be rewarded with opportunities, significant pay increases, and a seat at the table.
Thank you to all those that brought the county this far. You have been compensated accordingly, if you are tired and frustrated, it may be time to step aside. As a county we are moving forward, decide whether you want to come along with or call it a career. And unlike the train that is holding this country hostage and heading towards a woeful conclusion, this train is on track to succeed.
Who ever this reply belongs too as you spout BS from your suck hole. Why anonymous as you so proudly pound your chest that you have a seat at the table. By your post I am certain that you are surely a coward who hid from real work. Your were probably doing the C18 on an BS offender to keep you from backing up your beat partner. You are the problem and hopefully will soon choke on your serving at "THE TABLE". It is you and those like you that make me sick. You are for sure a leader of one. That being yourself.
I watched and rewatched Director Crider's video to make sure he was saying what I thought he said. "If you are not in the section being adjusted you still get a step or 3%." So if I have been here 16 years I will go into Step 5 in March. Go to Step 6 in October. In October 2021 I will go to step 7,and a 7 year employee will go to a Step 7. I will have 17 years and making equal to a 7 year employee. It really gets good the next year. In 2022 I will go to a step 8,but a 12 year employee will go to a step 12, making 4 steps more than an 18 year employee. If the economy goes south after that the plan will be suspended and a 12 year man will continue to make 4 steps more than me until he tops out. I am putting my name on this because I want someone with rank or HR please tell me I'm wrong.
Myself and another veteran Officer was discussing this same issue earlier. There's so many flaws with this plan.
First, they would be committing Future BOC boards to the 2021, 2022, 2023 plan or future boards could scrap it mid-way through, leaving part of the compression issue not addressed. Supposedly, the whole reason for them to go with this pay scale; I mean "Step and Grade" plan was that they couldn't bind future boards to anything.
Another issue is that they are causing the Rule of 80 pension plan members to not earn as much if they delay fixing the compression for them until 2023, affecting their highest years, thereby affecting their monthly pension for the rest of their lives. The Hybrid members won’t be as affected in their plan, and are decompressed sooner. If they can’t fix everyone at the same time, which would be the moral and ethical approach to fixing the problem, why not take care of the officers who it impacts the most first?
The most glaring issue is when the Director, in the video, told veterans that have only a few years left to retire that they may hit their retirement date before 2023, but that it would be ok, because they are still getting 3% bump each year with their Step increase; stating they would get 9%. He then corrected himself, and said it would actually be more than 9% because it would be 3% off of the Step they were in so it would actually be more than 9%.
If that were true, then a Step 1 PO2, at $48,436, would then earn $49,889 in Step 2. If you look at the attached chart in his email you will see that a PO2 Step 2 actually moves to $50,179. If his statement were true, then a Step 15 PO2, at $72,847 would then earn $75,032. According to the chart, a Step 16 PO2 earns $74,591. The 3% is actually based off the mid-point, which is $58,122, giving you an increase of $1,743 between each and every Step. The chart confirms that this is the case.
Assume an 13+ year officer goes into the Step Plan at a level 12 on March 22. He then rolls up to a level 13 in October, “if” the BOC approves it. So they would be at $69, 360. They move up one Step October 2021, again in 2022 and again in 2023 and retire. They would retire as a Step 16 earning $74,591; or $5,231 more than they were making in October of 2020. That is about 7.55% higher as a Step 16 than a Step 13 when they retire; not even a 9% increase.
The issue with all of this being true, is that the Director made a video for release to all of DPS and either intentionally misled the members, or didn’t take the time to confirm with simple math and understanding how the plan that he was agreeing to was actually just a Turd Sandwich on a silver platter. Either way, shame on him for agreeing to it!
This is a huge win for the BOC. They can claim they gave us a Step and Grade like we asked for. The citizens think they did something great to take care of us. And yet, we’ve been misled, lied to and screwed over yet again, leaving morale as bad or probably worse than it was before.
I hope that starting pay increase really helps out with the whole recruiting thing, because I have a feeling you’re about to have a few more vacancies. Better double up on that car decal order too.
Guessing they're not going to validate your post with a response here in a public forum. Please keep us posted as there is more than one person interested in what they have to say.
True, I should add to that my entire extended family lives in Cobb (and has since the 70’s) and all of them are ok with a millage increase. Caveat to that: they are biased because they are pro Public safety.
I posed my question to HR to see how HR views a possibility that a 12 year employee being at step 12 and making 12% more than an 18 year employee at step 8. I did this by phone. I was told that they would have get back to me in the next day. 24 hours later I was told that they have not figured out how they are going to address this yet. I was also told to send my question up the chain of command to Director Crider so that he may be aware that this is a scenario that needs to be considered. I have already sent that up question. I will keep this forum updated on any responses that I get.
If the County Staff advises the BOC. why aren’t we trying to convince County Staff of the silliness in this step and grade? The way I see it, HR and the Finance leaders are the ones selling us short.
I'm a simple man, but I think the easiest solution to this problem is to place officers on their respective step by starting with the 13+ years of service officers first. Essentially work backwards from the plan Director Crider spoke of and I know the reasons why they didn't.
I am not a member of Command Staff nor am I on the Fire side.
I have watched every meeting and every video the director puts out. Dir. Crider has been far more of a champion for us than I could've ever expected. He has acknowledged the plan isn't perfect. Submitted the first plan, got feedback and tweaked it.
Have you noticed when the BOC asks him a question and opens the door to an issue, he steps through and tells them what the issue is rather than dance around and play politics?
I am well over the 16th step in time but I recognize that Crider is actually getting things done. I think we need to continue to be visible at meetings but let the man work.
There is a very fine line between being vocal and sounding like ungrateful asses.
While this works itself out I am going to sit back and enjoy my 10-20 hours of on-call pay, $50 an hour part times and the gas that I am not having to put in my personal vehicle to get to work.
I agree with 2/6 at 943 am. WE have to be visible at the meetings. If we aren't there, it makes the BOC believe we don't care. How many police officers were at the meeting where this was voted in? Besides command staff or those required to be there, not many I bet. Not showing up is pretty cowardly, look at you 2/3 at 913am.
I agree that we need to be careful about sounding ungrateful. My main concern though isn't about the pay or benefits it's about manpower and safety. Numerous times we have run with half the precinct open meaning no one has a partner. The easiest way to attract new hires is either better pay or better benefits and perks. If the pay is the same at 2 places but one has better moral, perks, whatever, they're going with that one. While I'm worried about safety it seems the higher-ups are worried about keeping baby blue pants, tats and beards, and stickers on patrol cars.....right now it seems the county is less concerned about me having back up and more about giving the Braves a tax break, keeping votes, and buying more parks....
I agree and I, too, am over the 16 year mark with PD. And combining the raises from October 2019, February 2020, and October 2020, I will have had an 11.5% raise in 12 months. That's not including the $1,475 bonus we all got. That's progress, folks. That's the result of hard work by the Director, CS, Rob Hosack, the FOP, the IAFF, our citizen supporters, and those who made it to the commission meetings. That's worthy of appreciation. Keep things in perspective and realize that we're getting there.
I couldn't have put it better myself. I still like this department. But I like it for those of us who are here, on the streets. I love the guys I work with. In my feeling if we could just quit coming in and having to work 2 or 3 beats by yourself because Officer Open is running around all over the county, WE could start building this place back up. The recent changes will help. But it's a good start, a really good start compared to where we were a couple of years ago, but not the finish line.....
If I haven’t said it lately, Chief Cox is an outstanding leader. I have experienced four of them and it’s my belief that Cox is the most sincere. That being said, I’m still waiting on a more liberal grooming standard.
Kind of hard to show up when you have to work a part-time, it is your regular shift, or your in special ops and they change your hours to work while the meeting is going on. Not saying that's where everyone was at, but that's where a lot of officers were. Why has this blog turned into attacking each other for expressing a concern?
Agreed as a guy who's also worked for four chiefs. Cox is the most real Chief I've worked for...he may be in a tie with Chief New. Good move on the tattoos. Now why not improve morale and recruiting by allowing a little chin hair? Violators should have to be clean shaven for six months before they earn their privileges back. We could put it out on social media, too. A sample policy follows.
Showing up at the meetings are too late. You heard February 2, 2020 at 8:24 PM we do not have a seat at the table. There needs to be more involvement by the officers and not selective input. The plan we were fed did not come from a good group of officers out here or seniority and compression would not be continually kicked down the road. Ungrateful?? We are still here and what we have been dealt shows who is truly ungrateful. Showing up to be spit on does nothing. Look at the time we are away from home and now you want me to come to the spit party on my dime. There is an easy fix. It is called doing the right thing by taking care of senior officers first. New officer are enjoying take home cars and raises. So no they are not enlightened to the truth. We are divided. That's just a fact.
to the February 6, 2020 at 12:04 PM post. Id rather run short shift and have a quality beat partner at my side or en route to me than some of the manpower on the road today. Our standards were lowered and the quality of officer wearing the French Blue Cobb uniform reflects that. I am not grateful. I do not owe Cobb County anything. I come do my job, I go home! I use to come in on my off days and volunteer for any help that was needed. Come early and stay late. I realized the truth that many youngsters do not. We do not appear critical to the public because we have many coming in on their off days to make the schedule submitted appear full. When in fact it is not. So those who work their off time filling beats for a few hours early or late actually hurt our ability to show the public how bad we are staffed. I say do what you need to do for your family, but do not tell me what I see is not happening. It is the BOC and the CS that should be grateful we still show up. Oh and please stop with this facial hair BS. I mean if that is the only problem you have in life then your life is great. I am tired of hearing about outer vest and chin hair when the my costs keep going up. Pensioners, the county does not blink or ask us how our finances are when they "tell" us they are digging deeper into our pockets. Grateful. Make me vomit
This guy is toxic. His attitude has to affect the people around him, yet he is too angry to see it. I really hope he/she isn’t in a leadership position. I bet it is a drag for young officers getting new cars and raises if he/she is a supervisor. The CS may not have a lot of influence on the budget, but they can help to remove toxic individuals from this noble profession.
To Feb 7 at 238PM. If you think the poster is "Toxic" you are either CS, Blind, a Fool or all the above!! He or she speaks only the truth and if that upsets you then leave and go to another department. This county only makes it's decision(s) to change it's pay and benefits not because it's the right thing to do or because it's fair and competitive. The county ONLY does the minimum because it allows them to "check a box" and say they offer competitive/fair pay and benefits. Look around at the growth in this county, not only residential (which per realtor.com the average median sale price is $280,000) but the growth of commercial buildings that are being built. And a cobb officer with a family (1 or 2 incomes) can NOT afford to live in cobb where the good schools are located. The longer you work here the more you will learn if you allow yourself to look and listen to the truth. One day you will be a senior officer here and if things don't change for the better you will be the one ignored by the county. To those that say that the county is acting as a "fiscally conservative county", think again! How "fiscally conservative" is it to train/invest $90K in an individual for the same police officer position every 2-3 years? If the county was a private sector company, the boc would be fired for wasting the shareholder's money this way.
You say "Id rather run short shift and have a quality beat partner at my side or en route to me than some of the manpower on the road today...." There's been weeks where I never had a beat partner and several days I have worked all shift without seeing another officer after squad meeting. And I don't think anyone cares that much about beards or pants we just want as many acceptable applicants as we can get. How many valuable military guys did we skip over because of tats that have been scooped up by other depts.
No way man. No accusations made. Everyone understands the struggle. But just like we are there to cover beats for each other, we need to get with each other and make sure SOMEONE is there to represent us and be seen.
At the promotion ceremony yesterday they mentioned processing 80 applications and hired 7. In my mind filling beats for command staff is like trying to manage $1000 worth of bills with $700.
It's up to the BOC. They control our manpower with the purse strings
As I have been vocal about my concern I don't want it to be misinterpreted. I do recognize the 7% raise and the assigned vehicle program as progress. I am concerned about the issue that I raised and future boards not being bound by the plan. But I do want to recognize the efforts of Director Heaton and Director Crider as doing the best they can with the resources they are given. Again I am attaching my name to this.
While we fight with the BOC, the state legislature is looking to replace us. Let’s focus on providing quality police service to the community and find meaningful and respectful ways to address the pay issue. Because I for one will not work for a Neil Warren for any amount of money. https://www.mdjonline.com/news/cobb-s-top-law-enforcers-back-county-police-department/article_01ba90d0-49fd-11ea-9916-2b98372b8643.html
Thats one idiot who got elected by idiots in Brunswick, GA. That will never happen as the cost it would take for and SO to intergrate personnel and equipment along with its affect on the community is fiscally unaffordable.
That bill is because a Glynn County PD officer got away with murder and then killed someone a few years later. Its only going to happen if the citizen of the county absolutely hate the service provided by the department. Not going to be a problem here.
Respectfully disagree with you. Despite manpower and morale being low, providing quality police service to the county has NOT been sacrificed. And that says a lot about the officers working a beat day in and day out.
Before y'all start GTAC'ing the "step in grade" and the boc's promises of putting officers in the step plan based on years of service. Just remember this is the same boc, "public safety is our #1 priority", just 2 months ago (back in December) who's answer to retention was forcing officers to stay longer than 2 years. 'We're just chasing a rabbit': County head asks lawmakers to limit poaching of police officers | News | mdjonline.com https://www.mdjonline.com/news/we-re-just-chasing-a-rabbit-county-head-asks-lawmakers/article_a8319bca-1870-11ea-bf9a-2f2400ec132e.html
Before Step and Grade there was no path to 74k a year laid out for patrol guys. The retirement needs a lot of work but it looks like we're heading in the right direction. Unlike the Vest carrier debacle....
Of course it's a step in the right direction. But as it stands right now all raises are still approved by the boc which makes it a "Hybrid Step and Grade" Sound familiar? Of course it does, it's the cobb way, take a legitimate process and spin it. And based on raises given in my tenure at cobb a Step 1 officer, at best, is looking at 32 years to reach Step 16. Look at the boc, if major changes aren't made this coming election, past practice tells me nothing will change. It will just be more talk and more empty promises of GTAC. This isn't me being negative or "toxic". This is me just being honest and I truly hope I'm wrong. And don't hate the player hate the game. Instead of calling me negative or toxic direct your energy at the boc and hold them accountable.
Unless Chief lied to everyone at active shooter training WE are going to be deciding which vest, but I have not heard an updated ETA. He said everything was depending on the body cam situation, which it is my understanding the contracts have been signed.
Chief, I'd like to go on record saying that since we can get all these new tattoos, will have this new cool looking vest soon and a modified grooming standard; would it be possible to extend the hair length and wear man-buns in lieu of hats, wear wife beaters with the vests. Oh and while we are at it I'd like to suggest BDU shorts and flip flops too. I think that if this ensemble is permitted with some good braided chin whiskers that moral here would sky rocket. Heck I even bet officers would forget about pay and benefit issues and even our Lady officers could quit plucking the chin whiskers we know they have. Now you have the rest of the story!
I have concerns about this being a 4 year process. We have "started" multi year programs before. So you remember that we only did half of the pay study recommendations because of money and we were going to fix it later. The pay study suggested raise the new hire pay, which we did, and an across the board raise to address compression. The board was going to handle the other half, the across board raise, was going to be handled when they had the money. They forgot about that. The 4% last year across the board was not the other half of the pay study. My point is the board starts these multi year programs then drops off and Hope's we forget about it. That was less than 4 years ago.
"There's been weeks where I never had a beat partner and several days I have worked all shift without seeing another officer after squad meeting."
This is a bit of a stretch, don't you think? If you don't see other officers during your shift then maybe you need to stop hiding behind the strip mall and work.
24 year year officer going in as a step 12.... OK, I'm a 20 year officer going in as an 11. And still getting a raise. Would it make you feel better if they just renamed Step 12 to Step 24, and Step 16 became Step 28? It's ridiculous to think they're going to take me, with a current base of a little over 65K, and put me straight into making 74K just because the number assigned to the step for that pay step is the closest number to my years of service. Who cares what the step # is and whether or not it aligns even remotely to your years of service? I don't. They can put me in at "Step 1" if they want, as long as "Step 1" still equates to me getting a raise. I was getting to within 1, maybe at most 2, raises of being topped out. Now I have quite a bit more room I can move on up. What number they decide to appoint to that topped out "step" doesn't concern me in the least.
There's only one word for anyone whose idea of "work" when there's multiple open beats is to go out and make C18s and stop 54s, Blue Falcon. I also have WORKED a handful of days where I haven't seen another officer after leaving the Pct. Days where I didn't get a call that needed C7, 45's, simple 41's, even some minor 414's. But I've worked PLENTY of days where we've had to let calls hold, sometimes for hours, because going C7 was more important. I recall specifically a 45 call I was going to a few weeks ago. I pulled off that call "C8 prior" to C7 somebody on more important calls FOUR different times before I finally made it there, well over an hour later. My shift runs 2 open beats almost every single day. Having only 1, as opposed to 2+, open beats now is much less common than having a 51 or 52 car was 8 or 10 years ago. I've heard guys come in and look at the schedule before squad meeting and say only 1 open beat? Is it too late to take A/L???
Wanting to wear pajamas to work so you can look like a ninja and grow a beard like a wannabe operator is definitely not a legitimate issue...... Do we need vest carriers? Yes. We need to get this weight off our hips. It's a long term health issue. But do we need vest carriers that look like they were left over props from the last GI Joe movie? Nope. And I agree with the Chief. I saw a Marietta guy the other day. He had a beard. His vest was all faded like a life jacket out of the bottom of grandpa's boat. He looked like a joke. I would've assumed he was a security guard if I hadn't watched him get out of a Marietta PD Explorer.... Do we need to be able to grow beards and goatees? Absolutely not.
These Officers that are poopooing beards and carrier vests are missing the point. Cobb needs branding overhauling to remain competitive. Chick Fil A has a whole commercial with an Officer in a vest carrier and full beard. This is where we are in contemporary America, we have to move forward with the time.
I think we should worry less about how we look and more about being competitive with other departments. We definitely aren't competitive with pay, benefits, or morale. The police department can't do much about the first 2 but can help morale. And don't start telling me my "command presence" comes from shiny shoes, Easter pants, and cowboy hats. Being so concerned about looks is why we spent all that money on hubcaps for so many years. The entire police profession has realized taking weight off the belt and onto a vest equals healthier officers and lower medical/insurance costs. Some of y'all sound scared of change and are still mad from when we went from horses to patrol cars.
I think the overhaul that is needed has nothing to do with beards, outer vests. You gotta look like a bag of nuts, feel good types need to go work for google. There is no reason not to look like you shower regularly and are not in your pajama pants and top all day. Could there be a more beneficial duty uniform, possibly. The uniform is not the problem with this agency and for those of you that keep crying about as a priority need to quit taking your delusional medications.
Simply put, the only problem the BOC and the Chief's office need to worry about right now is a real competitive pay and benefits package. Nothing more and nothing less. The vest and beards are for you children who have yet to take the pacifiers out of your mouths.
An Ohio Chief bans vest carriers for his Officers. Of Course this was not a popular decision for the Chief, but I feel it was the proper decision. A link to the story is below and here is a quote from that chief.
“What it comes down to is there are some young officers on this department who have never been said ‘no’ to before and they have to understand that I’m the chief of police and I make those decisions,” said Kral. “… But I know a big concern for the officers is with the vest because takes all of the pressure off of their back and their hips. … The new solution comes with a built-in suspender system that clips onto their belt keepers. It does the exact same thing.”
That chief is either bowing to public opinion or kissing up to the Democrat mayor. Now they're gonna spend more money to go back to the old uniform because of people's feelings. Their old uniform also had drop leg holsters for tazers. Even with suspenders that's a lot of weight on two narrow strips on your shoulders. Plus when you bend over the outer belt pulls up and the trouser belt goes down so when you stand up they don't align looking like a soup sandwich. That's not a very good leader ignoring everything his employees say. https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/chief-bans-officers-from-wearing-outer-vests-because-were-not-soldiers/
Sounds ridiculous. Sounds like people don't like progress or something that works just because it looks scary or changes a uniform. It sounds like this chief wanted to show who had the big dick and laid down the law. Seems like some people in this department are also against progress. We should be doing the things which make us better tactically and physically. Not worrying about what it looks like. This includes the outdated uniforms which are ridiculously overpriced. Work smarter not harder. But we don't do that in any area of the department.
Cobb's Community Affairs unit wears nylon gear and BDU pants. Tell me again how bad such things are for public perception? Any argument based on "appearances" is invalid. And I suspect most people that are against policing in outer vests have probably never policed in an outer vest
News Flash. We have always been slow getting things done.
I'm not going to lie though. I do agree that the millennials need to be told "No" and need to remember they are not driving this train.
Millenials also need to remember that when the market turns and people want government jobs for the security, their antics will not be tolerated and their comments will be remembered.
I don’t think millennials are doing the complaining. They are taking advantage of the free market and getting results. The old heads are the ones not satisfied their own marketability.
Feb 22 @ 954am, I'm not even remotely close to being a millennial and I partially agree that telling them "No"(especially when comes to a specialized unit or a new car). However, I've been here for half of most of our millenial's life on this planet and have less than 10 years left. And even though your last paragraph is true (sadly) that's a HUGE part of the problem with cobb. cobb ONLY does things for its employees because they have to and NOT because it's the fair and competitive thing to do. And that's why we're in the boat we're in now. That old mindset is a cancer that needs to change, from CS down to the officers, so the department here can change for the better.
Ask around about the three year plan to fix compression, no one has a real answer except that it is not going to be what they talked about. And chill out with the attitude, we all know you are upset but don't worry you'll get that beard one day to accompany your sleeve tattoos tough guy.
I just can't wrap my head around this place. I have been reading these posts for a long time and decided to finally post. And to the naive command staff who say it's the same 5 or 6 guys who post on here, well i'm not one of those guys. My real issue, and I think it is the underlying issue of many of the posts I read on here, is why is information so damn guarded? The chief told us all at active shooter he was considering beards, and wanted to do a test to see how the gas masks fit. Fair enough. I could care less about a beard and never plan to grow one even if it is allowed. But people on here seem to care about it. Also at active shooter was the discussion about these outer vests. The Chief displayed 4 or 5 options, and his words were that he was going to send out a survey and let officers vote on which one they want. For those that want to argue about the vest, it's pointless. If you don't like it don't wear it. Stick to a class A if the "This is out brand" of the Houser era is how you feel. No shame in that, enjoy the pins and buttons and blue pants and let the younger guys who want to try a new system do so. Before I go too deep down a rabbit hole, I want to get back to my main point. And that is lack of information. Chief you damn said it. That's all there is to it. You said something, and now people want to hear your decision. Make one and put it out. This gossip and rumor mill BS that everyone feeds off is because there is an information vacuum. It was 4 or 5 months ago that you brought these two topics up, make a damn decision and put it out so everyone can move on. Your not gonna make everyone here happy, either decision will be criticized but I'm saying just make a damn decision and let everyone know. And to the command staff that has been trolling on here. Shame on you. Your supposed to be professionals and talk in front of a room about how this blog is just a bunch of complainers. But it has 170 posts these last two months. It has an impact. And some of you have outed yourselves because the same BS you troll with on here you say in person, so don't say you don't read or write on here. Be a professional and hold yourself to a higher standard and stop lying. Chief I respect you and I like you. Both as a person and a Chief. But please make and announce a decision. Lay all this to rest.
The point is there is a lot the command staff, precinct leadership, and shift supervision can do to increase morale that doesn't cost money. No one expects the board to do the right thing and no one expects to make decent money. But if the chain of command, starting with Sergeants, worked harder at making this a good environment that puts officers first it will go much farther than a pay raise in the long run. Sharing information is a key part of that. Nothing about anything we do or plan to do needs to be held between a select few. One of the things a lot of people have forgotten when they make rank is that leaders work for their people not the other way around. A Sergeant's job is to make sure that his/her troops have everything they need to do their job and to protect them from the crap that rolls downhill. And each step up in the chain has the same responsibility to those below them. Leadership needs to learn what their job is. I would say they need to remember their job but it is obvious they never knew it, now is the time for them to step up and fix the sinkhole that is CCPD.
Everyone should have seen this since it was required viewing / sign-off in Power DMS
Policy 2.07 (Grooming Standards) effective date: January 27, 2020
see Section I,A,3,d should answer any questions about beards.
3: Facial Hair. The face shall be clean shaven, but mustaches are permitted. A mustache will be neatly and closely trimmed.
a. No portion of the mustache shall extend below the lip line of the upper lip.
b. It will not go beyond a horizontal line extending across the corners of the mouth, and no more than l/4 inch beyond a vertical line drawn from the corner of the mouth.
c. Handlebar mustaches are not permitted.
d. Beards are only permitted with a documented medical waiver from a healthcare provider for those sworn employees with a medical condition that prohibits shaving. Beards permitted under this waiver must be neatly trimmed and shall not exceed one-quarter inch in length. Medical waivers require routine reauthorization at least once every twelve months and examination by a healthcare provider designated by the County may be required to confirm the diagnosis.
Confucius say: In regards to the outer vests, be patient young grasshopper. Sometimes issues develope beyond someones control and they must work through those issue while attempting to keep their promise.
And what is that people are not pushing for beards for medical issues. Thats a basic accommodation that should be made for medical reasons. People are pushing for beards because that's the trend and that is something that could possibly boost morale just a little bit for a few people. As silly as that one small thing is, maybe it would be something that would keep someone here. If that one little free thing keeps someone here i am all for it. At this point, we are one of the only metro agencies that dont allow them (outside of the medical waiver). Dont like beards? Keep shaving. Dont like tattoos? Shield your eyes. Its not so much about these individual things as it is about bringing us into the current time and matching the current trends.
There are always going to members of the CoC that under perform just like officers that under perform. Some that are scared of their shadows and some that believe in asking for forgiveness instead of permission. I have learned over the years that putting out information that is subject to change turns into "So an so said this" then when it changes they say "So and so is incompetent or they lied"
I know for a fact that the workers at 2 and I hear at 3 are getting after it everyday.
Comments like this are unnecessary and ridiculous. Maybe if you helped support the chain of command, when they are obviously just trying to helpful then the overall attitude would improve. You might think making little jokes like this are ok but you are adding to the problem. Unless you want to be a part of the solution you should exercise some maturity and keep these comments to yourself.
It doesnt matter what the BS policy says today, what it needs to read tomorrow is congrats you get a 1/4 inch goatee policy change now leave me a lone and get off muh lawn!
So our department's biggest issue is manpower/hiring and your thought is to publicly ridicule an entire generation. Don't you think prospective recruits read this blog? Are you actually helping our department or just stirring the pot and making dumb jokes? I think we should hire everyone willing and able and let training clean them up/sift through them in the DT room. I'm not a millennial and don't like the attitude of many younger people but I'm giving everyone a chance that volunteered to put on a badge and get shot at....
183 comments:
The new patrol cars have recruiting stickers.... PROBLEM SOLVED!!!
https://www.policeone.com/chiefs-sheriffs/articles/7-habits-of-unsuccessful-departments-z9s8vaPfHOKcwGA5/
Bye Bob, don't let the door hit you on the way out. This is a big win for public safety.
So according to the Chairman in his last video there will be a vote on Step and Grade at the next commissioners meeting. Is there anyone else that thinks it's fishy that nobody knows whats in it?
It's like they have to pass it so we can see what's in it.....
So Boyce is in the paper promising "Huge" and "Gigantic" things are coming! Well, forgive me for doubting, but I have a few trust issues....which have been reinforced by the frequent misrepresentations of the truth by the leadership within this county.
If its such a great thing, then why are Boyce and the BOC being so secretive about it? They've floated the last two ideas out in front of the troops. The first they "couldn't afford" and the other one they were quickly told what a $#!^ sandwich it was and would tank morale even further.
Do they not want to give anyone a chance to give them feedback on this one? If its so huge and gigantic, why not try to help the last bastion of morale left in this department by putting the information out there?
https://www.mdjonline.com/news/it-ll-be-huge-boc-to-consider-raises-for-public/article_cb7a1c46-37ac-11ea-8b5d-13edc1010916.html#utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
"Under such a plan, every public safety employee would be guaranteed a specific wage determined by his or her years of service (step) and rank (grade)." I wonder if they will again forget the other Public Safety Employees like Animal Services, 911, and the administrative personnel for all departments that are in fact "Public Safety Employees" themselves.
Welcome to the suck!!!!!
Smell that?????? Yeah, it's Boyce's HUGE announcement....
And I bet the HUGE raise won't include all public safety (rule of 80) employees. You know the ones that intercede on a daily basis with the newer officers and keep them from getting sued.
Taken from a December 3rd, 2019 post but still a great idea. It's Competitive and Fair.
Step in Grade Plan
POI: $45,776 (First 18 months)
POII
Step/Year 1: $51,291
Step/Year 2: $53,134
Step/Year 3: $54,976
Step/Year 4: $56,818
Step/Year 5: $58,661
Step/Year 6: $60,503
Step/Year 7: $62,345
Step/Year 8: $64,188
Step/Year 9: $66,030
Step/Year10:$67,872
Current officers are brought in at their respective Step/Year based on years of service.
To the person who came up with the idiot idea to do a step in grade that rewards employees who have less time invested in this county than those who have gone with less longer. Penalized for being a good employee and sticking around.
What is this BS?
"On an officer’s five-year anniversary $7,500, ten-year anniversary $5,000. These incentives would require a five-year commitment and if an officer left they would need to pay the prorated portion back to the County."
Is the county going to make this retroactive? They Should!!
The step in Grade is a joke and a spit in the face to those that stuck it through the hard times. I said spit and not a slap. The elected and CS under Boyce have failed us.
Only a true step in grade that rewards the officers for actual time with the agency is what should be accepted.
By implementing the plan as is you again punish the officers that their pay is in a compressed state by using their salary of now as a starting point.
Cobb County, you have become the genius of the X Factor. Basically you operate so darn shady you would not know reality if it was served to you from your own mother.
It has been sad to watch and be in a position that we can't move to another place of employment because we invested our lives here.
To you all. Thanks for nothing and this proposed step in grade is just that. A pile of _ _ _ _ (nothing)
The continued speech given by the CS that they had it worse as they stuck it out is a dang joke too. Most of you have been out of the real work for so many years that you have no clue what policing today is like.
For you 01's over 5 years. You have been off the street and off the beat that you cannot truly understand what your officers have to deal with from both sides.
For all that are higher than these 01's. Strap your gear on. Pick a precinct and see what its like to work today on the streets of Cobb County. I mean actually show up to these Precincts that operate short handed. Do that instead of having lunch and glad handing the many someone you do.
Try this method instead of saying you will cancel the annual leave of the little guy while you are dang sure not personally affected.
Chief Cox, you should mandate all Captains and above be the first to fill the beats of our Department from time to time. I mean Heck, have you seen how many Captains and Majors this Agency has. I see them popping up everywhere on the promotion emails. Then we never see them.
Oh, and we won't buy they have too much administrative work load. Let's see how much you and the entire CS truly want to help out. Come feel the pain for yourself.
Well said!!!!!
Whatever Boyce and the boc says is BS!!
It's the same script we've heard for over 10 years now. Regardless what they say they'll come up with some excuse, like a looming recession, and a "maybe next year" response.
It's the C-O-B-B way, Count On Being Broke!!!!!
One thing that I saw on the news today was that Fulton County School Resource Officers have outer vest carriers and we still do not. But in the grand scheme of things I’m really not surprised...be patient and give the CS 15-20 years and they’ll make it up to you!
I remember when veteran officers would ask new officers why they stayed in the department with their current pay and retirement. Now that the BOC is considering enhancing the pay for new officers, those same veterans are asking what about us.
Veterans have a retirement that we all should envy, why would you want to block this step in grade? Look out for your brothers and support this plan!
If you still believe that precincts are operating shorthanded, you are not working in a precinct.
I'm trying to be patient. I really really am. But it's starting to look like lies were told at active shooter training... To quote the late great Robin Williams- your move, Chief.
PS- Which vest we get is just as important as getting them in the first place. Don't blow this for us sir. Please.
Some people might look at this sort of thing and think we're whining about stuff that doesn't matter. But in reality we're just tired of the county dragging their feet over simple things that should've been done YEARS ago. The process taking awhile is understandable. But it's a process that should've already been over with by now. There's no excuse for us still wearing uniforms that were in style in the 1970's.Even the military moves faster than Cobb. And not just when it comes to combat uniforms. Even the dress uniforms that hardly ever get worn.....
Uh.....are you implying that the precincts are NOT still short handed? I don't know which precinct you're at but we have had guys come in and work their off days and still been running multiple beats open. If your Pct isn't short, send some of those bodies this way.
I think this stuff is laughable.
You guys are worried about the clothing you wear and if you can have hair on your face...
Then at the same time you cry about not having the old pension yet aren't willing to put away the same 7.75% into your retirement (that pensioners do) to get the maximum match out of the county.
Veteran/Rule of 80 or a newer Hybrid officer it doesn't matter.
If we dont get a TRUE Step in Grade, like Atlanta PD or Gwinnett PD, it's just a Pay Schedule no different than what we have now.
Officers will continue to leave for better and every 2 or so years the county will continue to spend $90k to train one recruit for the same 70 to 80 positions.
That's atleast $6.3 MILLION DOLLARS the county wastes every 2 or so years instead of reinvesting it in the officers with better pay.
Bottom line, fixing the manpower crisis in the police department IS NOT A PRIORITY for the boc.
It NEVER HAS AND NEVER WILL!!
You realize there are scientific studies on the benefits of this particular clothing, right?
You realize hybrid guys make significantly less money than pensioners, right? You realize it took pensioners decades to work up to putting in those percentages, right? You realize hybrid guys have been here for less than 10 years, right?
You realize you sound like an idiot, right?
Big vote coming at the Jan 28 BOC meeting. This is next Tuesday night at 1900 and will be for the new pay plan. Call it what you want, if they pass it on Tuesday it may hit paychecks by the end of March. Let's show up to show our interest. They are supposed to have a couple more work sessions before the vote but I believe the final proposal has to be made public prior to the vote.
If it is the same proposal they already put forward I would get a “pay raise” of $200 a YEAR. Not really a raise.
BOYCE SUCKS!!!!! That should clear things up.
He suffers from a medical condition called Liarreah
If $200 is all you are going to see, you are being properly compensated. The rest of us requires livable wages.
What?
So the Chief of Police for Atlanta announced that their raises reduce their open positions from the 400's to just over 100. Funny how that works.....
https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/pay-raise-credited-for-big-spikes-apd-recruitment-retention/BFi5pwVb4W3peV67n8yCiO/
The new proposed pay scale has been published on the county clerk's web site. Search for "cobb boc agenda" and it's the first hit. There are links to the documents in the January 28 agenda. One document contains all public safety base/MCP/top out numbers and the other has the 16 step pay scale for Officers thru LT's.
So they have slightly increase what they were going to do for each step but have still decided to slot officers based on what they are currently paid instead of years of service as a true step and grade would. This is not different that what was proposed last year other than the slight increase in what each step gets. If there is no plan to slot officers by there years of service this is not a true step and grade.
https://cobbcoga.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=302&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0
Link to agenda
https://cobbcoga.civicclerk.com/Web/GenFile.aspx?ar=3954
Link to the proposal
https://cobbcoga.civicclerk.com/Web/GenFile.aspx?ad=3114
Link to the step and grade scale
https://cobbcoga.civicclerk.com/Web/GenFile.aspx?ad=3113
Link to the classification and pay schedule.
Read the agenda item to understand the proposal.
Someone call Persons, we just got raped.
If I were allowed to grow a frikkin' beard none of this would matter. People would stay, recruitment would go up, and attitudes would change. Beards would fix everything. Let's Duck Dynasty the hell out of this department.
STFU TROLL
If this isnt the writing on the wall for the hybrid officers I don't know what is. A 5 year man will make what a 1 1/2 year man makes. This compression will be repeated for every 2 or 3 years for the 30 years you will be hear. As a 16 year man I will get a penny raise and be a grade 5. If the county honors this every year, and that is a huge if, I will retire at a grade 13. If you stay hear 30 years then realistically you will retire at grade 7 or 8 because the county don't give raises but every few years. Get out now while you still can.
The truth is everyone from probably 6 or 7 years and down will be on the same pay grade. This is a major problem. I hope they present some future plan to address this but I do not trust the BOC or any politician to do what they say they will.
Don't lose sight of the fact that everyone under $46K will be moving up to that grade. That will be a huge raise for many. A side effect will be many folks in the same grade.
Don't lose sight of the fact that everyone currently under $46K will be raised to that level. That will be a huge raise for many. A minor side effect will be many folks at the same grade. Complaining about that is like complaining about having to pay taxes on a lottery jackpot.
You are wrong, complaining about the major amounts of compression within the department of public safety is important. This is not a true step and grade. If you don't understand that and cannot see why this is a problem you are an problem too. The comparison to a lottery jackpot is asinine and really shows a lack of understanding of rewarding loyalty. This compression is not a minor side effect. The purpose of the step and grade is to reward those who stay with a department. Even ATLANTA can get it right. But Cobb County leadership cannot seem to pull their heads out of their fouth point of contacts and understand how this works. While this "step and grade" may be good for the one to two year officers, it is very bad for basically anyone else. It is also bad for the citizens of Cobb County who constanly lose experienced officers to other departments. Those experienced officers make better decisions than most new officers. Those better decisions result in better outcomes in almost every facet of police work. Also, not having to train 100 new officers each year just to barely break even on retention would save taxpayers money. But hey lets focus on only the short term and continue to kick the can.
Congratulations BOC!!!!! They have been named best recruiters for all other departments in the Metro area!
This isn't going to be an over night fix. This is step 1.
The next step is getting the county board of commissioners to recognize and do something about compression.
The Firemen are planning on going to the commission meeting Tuesday evening at 7pm. The desire is to get the commission on the record committing to working on the compression issues.
The Police Dept should make their presence known as well.
Don't believe everything you hear. The Marietta Police Chief said they have a waiting list.
The funny part is his officers laughed when they heard that. It's a total farce.
The problem is there has been nothing said to us about what step two or three might be. AND THIS IS NOT A STEP AND GRADE. The sooner everyone understands this the sooner we will understand this is a half measure. Not even half really since it addresses zero current problems other than raising our starting pay which is to address recruitment. While recruitment is a problem, the more serious problem is retention.
You hit the nail on the head, nothing has been said to us about any of this. Good thing we have Ducimus.
Has anyone heard how or if the step and grade would affect specialty and FTO pay? Since that's currently based off the market control point, which would no longer exist.
It's not the same one that was put out earlier. It's slightly more. Mine would be an $832 year raise, not counting court/OT.
It looks like the 10% would be around $2.80 and the 5% would be $1.40. That is based off of https://cobbcoga.civicclerk.com/Web/GenFile.aspx?ad=3113 which is the classification and pay schedule.
As it has been stated, the new guys need to pay attention to this, and to history. Once you hit 5 years hear you will be the ones being compressed. You will find yourself being here 5 to 15 years at pay grade 3 or 4 and making a dollar more than a new hire. Ask the 5 year man if he thought he would go in at pay step 1 and get a penny raise. Ask him if he thought a 1 1/2 year man would get a 3 dollar raise so they make the same.
I may have missed some posts on here but what does command staff get out of this? Probably a substantial raise if I were to guess....prove me wrong!
Raising the MCP of a grade doesn't mean that everyone in that grade gets a raise. But this plan raises the MCP of Captains, Majors, Dep Chiefs and Chief by 12%. And they are not part of step/grade. For comparison, LT MCP is +3%. Sgt +4%. PO2 +7%. And here's another data point that does not necessarily mean anything: the MCP for Police Chief in 2017 was $112K. Currently it is $150K, and this proposed plan raises it to $169K.
Yeah thanks, I finally saw there was still a mid point listed on one of the other forms.
It is actually incredibly different from what we have now. No more having to sit around and guess what the top out or mid point is for your pay grade, because it's all buried somewhere. No more having to wait on the wizard math to come out to say what the "X factor" is. No more hoping that your Sgt isn't too lazy to put in the ridiculous amount of effort needed to justify you an exceeds to get the extra 1%....of the mystical X factor. No this is infinitely better than what we have now. Will it result in compression for those who have been here 5 or less? Yes, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Is that a bad thing? Yes. Is it the end of the world? Nope. I've been here long enough to be on both ends of the compression issue. One raise that came out.....10 or 15 years ago, most people got 33 cents an hour out of it. The battle cry then was 33 cent don't pay the rent. I got $1.70 something out of it because I was compressed. It will eventually sort itself out. And even if it doesn't, enjoy the raise we're all about to get and move on.
If I'm not mistaken, those not on the step & grade, like captains and above, water department, librarians, basically everybody else in the County, will still have to rely on the old X factor raises that will be based on a percentage of the mid point. So raising the bottom, mid, and top out for captains and up actually doesn't mean that ANY of them will be getting a raise, unless they're below the new minimum. It just means that any future raises they get will be bigger. Because that percentage will be calculated off of a higher mid point.
Why is EVERYTHING we get a "step one"? I mean seriously I've been here over a decade and I don't recall any legit step 2's. Everything has been a half measure accompanied by promises of more. We get told to be patient because nothing gets fixed over night, but in reality nothing gets fixed! Probably how GTAC was coined in the first place. A small raise is nice, but is it worth the added compression?
Besides money maybe Training could improve motivation by stop stewing up everyone's AT dates. I've had to change plans 3 times.
The "H" in "Cobb Police" stands for happy officers.
Wait there's no H
I tuned in on YouTube last night to the meeting just in time to see the vote and see the step and grade approved. I know the email that came out a month or two ago said they were looking at two options, either moving you into the closest step to what you make now, or the step above that, the "plus 1" they called it. I haven't heard which was decided on, does anybody know?
Step and Grade approved. Problem solved.
Stop drinking the koolaid it's NOT a true "step in grade". It's a pay schedule and no different than what we had it's just now public and on paper!!!!!
While it may not be a true "step and grade" like the military's pay scale, it is INFINITELY different, and better, from what we had before.
Not really. Stay out of the cool-aid. It still sucks. They know it sucks and thats why it passed. Kiddy Bandaid
And it's NOT like a TRUE step in grade in the law enforcement community. Once you do a little google searching outside of the southeast you'll see what a real law enforcement step in grade looks like.
And please tell how it's "infinitely" better?
Because like the 1:12PM post said it's a PAY SCHEDULE and it does nothing for compression.
A true step in grade DOES NOT need approval every year from a governing body (boc), the steps are automatic. Because if you've been an officer with cobb for 10-15 years the raises approved by the boc are like every 3-4 years. So a Step 1 officer will take based on my math (3×16=48), 48 years to top out or more realistically only reaching Step 10 if you stayed 30 years.
And like Atlanta and Gwinnett a "step" is equal to a "year of service".
According to the video sent out today by Director Crider it looks like those of us that have been here several years will only get bumped up to the next pay grade if we are between pay grades. If that's the case, I'm in for a .19 cent raise! How awesome is it that! You stay hoping, wishing for things to improve only to get sucker punched again and again! What a joke!
Summary of Director Crider's video:
0-300: Intro and promise for Q&A document to answer FAQs
301-720: Implementation of "Step & Grade" will cause serious compression. Implementation addresses recruitment but not retention of 4+ year personnel.
721-1520: Director Crider's sales pitch that Cobb is a great employer with great opportunities and that Good Things Are Here (#GTAH).
1521-1844: BoC's "desire" is to give step increase and merit increase in October of 2020. Possible plan to address compression involves moving employees with 7 or less years into the correct Step (based on years of service) in 2021, employees with 8-12 years into correct step in 2022, and employees with 13+ years into correct step in 2023.
1845-2335: Funding sources for local government are limited and largely tied to property values. No guarantees can be made for future raises or funding. Director Crider does not acknowledge or address commitments made by BoC related to stadium or to Cobb's exceptionally low millage. Director Crider believes BoC wants the best for us and they want to increase our pay, but no commitments can be made.
2336-2548: Three year hypothetical plan would increase costs about $6 million per year. Director Crider believes that if fund aren't available now that a millage increase is possible after 2020 election. He calls out anyone saying that BoC hasn't made Public Safety a top priority, saying it has been their priority but that they haven't fixed our problems.
2549-2900: Mentions policy changes to attract new/younger employees with no specifics. Stresses they are aware of compression created by "Step & Grade" but that they'll work hard to fix that problem. Director Crider asks for "confidence" that he'll propose plans to BoC to address compression.
2901-3220: October increase, if it happens, would be Step increase for all (3%) and plan is to increase Step each year in addition to the group adjustments.
3221-3605: Command staff not included in "Step & Grade". Director Crider will discuss compensation with command staff and make sure "perception" isn't that command staff got a better deal than hourly. Director Crider doesn't want a raise but will talk with command staff about their deal. Compensation comparisons with other agencies should be made at all levels of rank. Cobb Fire Chief makes less than any other comparable agency.
3606-end: Asks command staff to encourage employees to watch the video. Director Crider was disappointed with lack of participation in recent survey. Gives example of survey input being used in current plan. Notes that the process has been "rigorous" and "political", and that not all of the BoC was initially on board. Stresses that several people have been working to get the "Step & Grade" implemented. He wants questions submitted through chain of command.
Yeah they really pushed that through without any consideration to the folks who have been here a while. It doesn’t solve the compression issues at all. It only benefits the new folks. I can’t see if input was received how anyone would get on board with it. Now they’re gonna hide behind this and claim we gave you a step and grade. Oh well at least we’ve got updated uniforms and equipment, sorry no we don’t.
It's NOT a "Step & Grade"!!
It's a Pay Schedule!!!
And the BoC's "desire" / promise to their 3 year plan to correct "steps" to reflect "years of service" is straight up BS!!
And a mileage rate IS NOT necessary for the BoC to do the right thing and turn this PAY Schedule into a TRUE "Pay & Step" plan.
Why doesn't the mileage rate need to be raised to do this?
According to the January 2020 edition of the Cobb Business Journal the Cumberland Community Improvement District (CID) allowed local and state governments to collect a combined $443 MILlION in taxes in the CID each year and cobb county's take each year is $61 MILLION!
In case you didn't know the Cumberland CID, according to their own website, the CID is only 6.5 square miles, it impacts 5.4% of Georgia’s economy and
It makes up 36% of Cobb County’s economy.
What cobb's leadership fails to realize is that WE as law enforcement officers know how to investigate or find information and they fail to realize we know BS when we see it.
Actions speak louder than words and public safety IS NOT a priority for the BoC or the Step & Grade would be based on years of service now just like Atlanta and Gwinnett PD.
1521-1844
Now that makes sense, let's pay those with less years of service first and not reward those first that have stuck it out as GTAC continues.
But that's the cobb way.
Expect the best!!
To all. This was a recruiting event with all of the coconspirators, Chiefs Office and Command Staff, BOC's, HR, and Crider.
The emphasis was to open their ability to recruit officers to patch the bleeding holes.
I mean really! Chief Cox, you have the audacity to send an email to those of us that still get in the dirt out here on the street in todays environment and recruit.
I will do my best to deter folks from climbing on board this sinking ship.
Especially in the environment created by your tenure in the Command Staff, maybe not as Chief, but definitely not with the force.
You all with elected or appointed officials have made this Agency a has been Department.
No longer are we the Superior Agency we use to be. We no longer enforce the law because of an opinion by some that it does not matter.
You mandate officers not arrest persons for no license, but want them to arrest a suspended driver. Idiocy.
Marijuana is illegal, citations and fines, if no longer arresting, should be the answer. Allowing illegal activity is not the answer.
We are enforcers of the laws of this State.
You decision makers have discounted all those voters who say marijuana should remain illegal.
What other law will you choose to avoid in the future.
Do you bow to all special interest groups as you have for this one.
The law is the law. Enforce it to ensure the general safety and rights of the citizenry. To maintain order and civility so that we can grow and prosper as a community.
I shall not as an officer create revenue by citation for you or this county if you deny me the ability to enforce all laws.
I will not permit Cobb County to take money from those who participate in the success of our business owners because they were in a hurry.
Unless their event interferes with another. I will turn my head as you have for the marijuana and license issue.
We don't need an email telling us how good a job we are doing either. Especially immediately following the stab in the back pay event that transpired.
What does he mean by lack of participation? Anyone that has been with this department more than five years would be able to see that this plan was not a good one. That’s why they pushed it through. It amazes me what a political puppet folks become when they take that director’s position.
Bro, EAP is free.
Dont agree with everything, but having been the cobb +/- 15 years and getting +/- a 15 cent raise there is now way I will help with recruiting efforts!!
If CS truly thinks this was a good idea than they are obviously not in touch with the rank and file.
It's simple human nature, while would anyone help someone who had continually screwed them over for the last 10 years!!
I haven't and would never recommend cobb to family or friends when there's so many better options in the metro area and I will be very honest how cobb lacks to appreciate its officers and lack competitive and fair pay/benefits.
I guess you can always donate your .19 cents to someone else.
This site has become nothing but what appears to be disgruntled officers who are constantly ranting about something. Nothing worthwhile is ever accomplished by any of the posters.
Why keep Ducimus alive? To have a place for a handful of people to complain?
I have worked for other departments and have seen the same thing. A small group of disgruntled officers that's only accomplishment is to destroy any good attitude that younger officers may have. What a pathetic life purpose.
Then quit
Maybe he cannot quit because he has invested his life here. How about you just quit and go type people quit kissing the brown spot on the A-s of this BOC and Command. How about you, yes you coward ass lock arms with those of us still willing to fight. That is unless you have been out of the real work of this profession for so long and are the problem, not the solution. This agency is divided and the command is doing its best to widen the gap by accepting the BS deal and attempting to sell it as a "Good Thing"
Kool-aid....oh yeah!
Well said Sir or Ma'am. You beat me to the "Quitter's" comment.
If you can't handle the truth stop reading the posts.
This is nothing new. The boc passed a pay plan, calls it a step in grade and adds more promises of GTAC real soon. Sound familiar? Of course it does!
This bs isn't going to fix recruiting or retention until you provide your officers a competitive and fair pay/benefits. And only then would you have 500 recruiters, Zero openings and a waiting list.
Troll.
Then quit.
I am sure I will be blasted for this, but can we at least give some credit to Interim Director Crider and Chief Cox? We have seen more raises in the past year than we have in the previous 5 combined. I know it's not what everyone hoped for and I agree the Commisssioners are trying to put up a front without any substance, but what we have received lately isn't that bad. I do not trust the BOC, but I have faith in Crider and Cox. Director Crider says there will be more to come....there is only so much the two of them can do, and I believe they are doing what they can.
I would think most are in agreement and based on the majority of the posts the distrust is with the boc.
I still don't trust all you outside of the county Officers that insist on a millage rate increase. How many of you are willing to raise your property taxes for your local enforcement agency. The BOC works for all of the county. I'm almost certain that businesses and the super rich citizens in Cobb county has made it clear to the Chairman that any increases in the millage rate will result in a departure of their business. Stop being so self centered or go ahead and leave with the others so that we can recruit and employ loyal individuals.
Here in lies the issue...
About 30 yrs ago the commissioners stripped the county down to bare bones in an attempt to reduce costs. They began pulling construction and infrastructure projects out of the budget and putting them in a SPLOST. That is why it is a nut roll to find money for things like salary hikes and building renovations. Because there is essentially nothing in the budget to cover the cost without raising the millage. It essentially got everyone used to ultra low taxes but dependent upon the SPLOST to fund the building projects and left the salary portion on a slow roll to hell. It is the same way officers get dependent on extra jobs with no real way to fix any issues that arise.
Especially when you lack the "Political capital" to propose a millage increase.
Also, check out the "East Cobb Alliance" Facebook page. It turns out Mr. Ott has been helping the framers with getting the City of East Cobb off the ground using county employees providing data.
There is a lot of maneuvering and posturing going on now as we head into election season. Rest assured your salary and public safety is not on the front burner.
Ott is leaving and has anointed his replacement in the election who I imagine will be an obstructionist as well.
Funny how future boards were obligated to allocate funds for the stadium but can't guarantee what equates to a cost of living raise every year.
I’m with your partially. You see a bunch of fiscally conservative folks sound like a bunch of liberals as soon as taxes relate to their salaries. However...until the county is ready to cut costs on non essential functions in order to fund higher priority projects there seems to be no other solution than a mileage increase. We continue to offer more services without increasing the rate as which revenue is generated.
I see an awful lot of empty CCT buses everyday... the taxpayers of Cobb subsidized about 13 million a year for that service back in 2011. You could almost buy every daily rider a small car for that price... it’s certainly enough to fix the PD salary crisis.
The flaw with this argument is that it fails to mention how artificially low Cobb's millage rate is currently. Those living outside the county can back a millage increase because we pay higher taxes where we live. Even if Cobb raised the millage appropriately, it would still be lower than anything those of us living outside the county pay.
Is Cobb under a flash flood warning yet due to all the crying and tidal waves of tears from you guys? I'm not in Cobb but I want to make sure if I need to head that way I am prepared for it.
I am completely baffled at the resurgence of the "well then, just quit" attitude. Are y'all serious?! That's what got us into the pickle we are in, PEOPLE DID QUIT. Hundreds of them. And everything went to shit. Then there was the rise of the "complainers" that led to most if not all of the arguably good things we are seeing now. Now as soon as we start seeing a silver lining it's back to "quit if you don't like it."
I don't know if y'all are rookies that weren't around before or command staff slinging koolaid, but you might want to stop and think about your attitude. Just a thought.
Isn't bad? Maybe you are one of these coddled little new hires and just got a huge raise. If not that, then blind. A raise given to those for doing absolutely nothing in the trenches to “EARN” it. We, the senior veterans, stayed because WE ARE CCPD, we are not job shoppers. We have been here through some good and some really bad times. We are still here!! Beginning to wonder if what we have put our families through by staying was worth the effort. It is us that made the stories about "COBB, Count On Being Busted" a reality. We enforced the law. Yes all laws. Traffic Enforcement here was known from coast to coast. We use to even do truck inspections and made a greater affect on the trucking community in keeping Cobb Highways safe than the State did. We are the ones that made this a once revered agency. The River use to actually work and kept the thugs away. We did not care who you were that were involved in illegal activity, we jailed your ass, PERIOD! We struggled with this community through good and bad economic times. We stayed while becoming a hated profession. Being called racist, bigots, Uncle Toms along with other hatred names of choice. Just for doing OUR JOB. Thanks to Obama and his cronies for creating hate across the country and making racial differences a tool. Officers worked hard regardless of the rhetoric you hear today, WE ARE and HAVE NOT BEEN a RACIST Department. Now this county has used that same tool in creating division within the ranks of race and pay. Making decisions based on creating their KODAK moments so they can look pretty on FB. Moving these young kids to special units and putting their face in pictures for appeasement is actually a spit in the face to those that have scars from their years of keeping the bad guy at bay. This and providing raises to unseasoned officers for recruiting posters equates to wrong the absolute wrong answer. There are many that know this is a fact but know they cannot say anything because it will appear discriminative. Lateral movement to any type of specialty unit should be based off ability, seniority and work ethics and not a photo op. Raises should be given based on time in the trenches. The first order of business should be the ones who suffered. It is called triage. Stop the bleeding first. The bleeding is the loss of veteran officers who actually keep the newer ones out of a civil law suit. In the midst of this suffering the county is telling senior officers to sit and watch us hire by lowering our esteemed standards, put them in the newer cars than yours, and provide them a larger raise than you ever dreamed of getting. So isn’t bad? I think it is very bad if you are able to look at the entire picture or as we are trained to do. Use the “Totality of the Circumstances.” I’m here. Not leaving because I’ve invested my wife, kids, entire family and self in this and too close to the end to start over. So for those who say quit. I say, do the right thing and take care of those who took care of you to get you where you are today.
Well said!!!!!
I have believed this all along about Ott. That City of East Cobb movement is gaining momentum and no one is paying attention. Why else would that slovenly troll leave his post as commissioner? He’s one of the biggest dirtbags up there.
C’mon you’re in Cobb, you’re one of those who cower behind the rank on their collar. You’re only trying to play like you’re not. This post almost reeks of a vertically challenged CS who used to work here! Who allegedly up and retired out of the blue. Gee, I wonder why?
Is you are unhappy with your current professional circumstance, you have no one to blame but yourself. I hope the “rookies” learn one thing from the veteran that are still humping a beat, GET YOURSELF PROMOTED! Look for increased responsibility, do more than show up 4 times a week. Then and only then will you be rewarded with opportunities, significant pay increases, and a seat at the table.
Thank you to all those that brought the county this far. You have been compensated accordingly, if you are tired and frustrated, it may be time to step aside. As a county we are moving forward, decide whether you want to come along with or call it a career. And unlike the train that is holding this country hostage and heading towards a woeful conclusion, this train is on track to succeed.
Really?
Who ever this reply belongs too as you spout BS from your suck hole. Why anonymous as you so proudly pound your chest that you have a seat at the table. By your post I am certain that you are surely a coward who hid from real work. Your were probably doing the C18 on an BS offender to keep you from backing up your beat partner. You are the problem and hopefully will soon choke on your serving at "THE TABLE". It is you and those like you that make me sick. You are for sure a leader of one. That being yourself.
Coward coolaid drinker
I watched and rewatched Director Crider's video to make sure he was saying what I thought he said. "If you are not in the section being adjusted you still get a step or 3%." So if I have been here 16 years I will go into Step 5 in March. Go to Step 6 in October. In October 2021 I will go to step 7,and a 7 year employee will go to a Step 7. I will have 17 years and making equal to a 7 year employee. It really gets good the next year. In 2022 I will go to a step 8,but a 12 year employee will go to a step 12, making 4 steps more than an 18 year employee. If the economy goes south after that the plan will be suspended and a 12 year man will continue to make 4 steps more than me until he tops out. I am putting my name on this because I want someone with rank or HR please tell me I'm wrong.
I want the chump that thinks he is better than others-the one that has his special seat at the table- to explain that one.
Myself and another veteran Officer was discussing this same issue earlier. There's so many flaws with this plan.
First, they would be committing Future BOC boards to the 2021, 2022, 2023 plan or future boards could scrap it mid-way through, leaving part of the compression issue not addressed. Supposedly, the whole reason for them to go with this pay scale; I mean "Step and Grade" plan was that they couldn't bind future boards to anything.
Another issue is that they are causing the Rule of 80 pension plan members to not earn as much if they delay fixing the compression for them until 2023, affecting their highest years, thereby affecting their monthly pension for the rest of their lives. The Hybrid members won’t be as affected in their plan, and are decompressed sooner. If they can’t fix everyone at the same time, which would be the moral and ethical approach to fixing the problem, why not take care of the officers who it impacts the most first?
The most glaring issue is when the Director, in the video, told veterans that have only a few years left to retire that they may hit their retirement date before 2023, but that it would be ok, because they are still getting 3% bump each year with their Step increase; stating they would get 9%. He then corrected himself, and said it would actually be more than 9% because it would be 3% off of the Step they were in so it would actually be more than 9%.
If that were true, then a Step 1 PO2, at $48,436, would then earn $49,889 in Step 2. If you look at the attached chart in his email you will see that a PO2 Step 2 actually moves to $50,179. If his statement were true, then a Step 15 PO2, at $72,847 would then earn $75,032. According to the chart, a Step 16 PO2 earns $74,591. The 3% is actually based off the mid-point, which is $58,122, giving you an increase of $1,743 between each and every Step. The chart confirms that this is the case.
Assume an 13+ year officer goes into the Step Plan at a level 12 on March 22. He then rolls up to a level 13 in October, “if” the BOC approves it. So they would be at $69, 360. They move up one Step October 2021, again in 2022 and again in 2023 and retire. They would retire as a Step 16 earning $74,591; or $5,231 more than they were making in October of 2020. That is about 7.55% higher as a Step 16 than a Step 13 when they retire; not even a 9% increase.
The issue with all of this being true, is that the Director made a video for release to all of DPS and either intentionally misled the members, or didn’t take the time to confirm with simple math and understanding how the plan that he was agreeing to was actually just a Turd Sandwich on a silver platter. Either way, shame on him for agreeing to it!
This is a huge win for the BOC. They can claim they gave us a Step and Grade like we asked for. The citizens think they did something great to take care of us. And yet, we’ve been misled, lied to and screwed over yet again, leaving morale as bad or probably worse than it was before.
I hope that starting pay increase really helps out with the whole recruiting thing, because I have a feeling you’re about to have a few more vacancies. Better double up on that car decal order too.
Guessing they're not going to validate your post with a response here in a public forum. Please keep us posted as there is more than one person interested in what they have to say.
True, I should add to that my entire extended family lives in Cobb (and has since the 70’s) and all of them are ok with a millage increase. Caveat to that: they are biased because they are pro Public safety.
I posed my question to HR to see how HR views a possibility that a 12 year employee being at step 12 and making 12% more than an 18 year employee at step 8. I did this by phone. I was told that they would have get back to me in the next day. 24 hours later I was told that they have not figured out how they are going to address this yet. I was also told to send my question up the chain of command to Director Crider so that he may be aware that this is a scenario that needs to be considered. I have already sent that up question. I will keep this forum updated on any responses that I get.
If the County Staff advises the BOC. why aren’t we trying to convince County Staff of the silliness in this step and grade? The way I see it, HR and the Finance leaders are the ones selling us short.
I'm a simple man, but I think the easiest solution to this problem is to place officers on their respective step by starting with the 13+ years of service officers first.
Essentially work backwards from the plan Director Crider spoke of and I know the reasons why they didn't.
24 year officer, going in as step 12.
We lead, others follow.
I am not a member of Command Staff nor am I on the Fire side.
I have watched every meeting and every video the director puts out. Dir. Crider has been far more of a champion for us than I could've ever expected. He has acknowledged the plan isn't perfect. Submitted the first plan, got feedback and tweaked it.
Have you noticed when the BOC asks him a question and opens the door to an issue, he steps through and tells them what the issue is rather than dance around and play politics?
I am well over the 16th step in time but I recognize that Crider is actually getting things done. I think we need to continue to be visible at meetings but let the man work.
There is a very fine line between being vocal and sounding like ungrateful asses.
While this works itself out I am going to sit back and enjoy my 10-20 hours of on-call pay, $50 an hour part times and the gas that I am not having to put in my personal vehicle to get to work.
I agree with 2/6 at 943 am. WE have to be visible at the meetings. If we aren't there, it makes the BOC believe we don't care. How many police officers were at the meeting where this was voted in? Besides command staff or those required to be there, not many I bet. Not showing up is pretty cowardly, look at you 2/3 at 913am.
I agree that we need to be careful about sounding ungrateful. My main concern though isn't about the pay or benefits it's about manpower and safety. Numerous times we have run with half the precinct open meaning no one has a partner. The easiest way to attract new hires is either better pay or better benefits and perks. If the pay is the same at 2 places but one has better moral, perks, whatever, they're going with that one. While I'm worried about safety it seems the higher-ups are worried about keeping baby blue pants, tats and beards, and stickers on patrol cars.....right now it seems the county is less concerned about me having back up and more about giving the Braves a tax break, keeping votes, and buying more parks....
I agree and I, too, am over the 16 year mark with PD. And combining the raises from October 2019, February 2020, and October 2020, I will have had an 11.5% raise in 12 months. That's not including the $1,475 bonus we all got. That's progress, folks. That's the result of hard work by the Director, CS, Rob Hosack, the FOP, the IAFF, our citizen supporters, and those who made it to the commission meetings. That's worthy of appreciation. Keep things in perspective and realize that we're getting there.
I couldn't have put it better myself. I still like this department. But I like it for those of us who are here, on the streets. I love the guys I work with. In my feeling if we could just quit coming in and having to work 2 or 3 beats by yourself because Officer Open is running around all over the county, WE could start building this place back up. The recent changes will help. But it's a good start, a really good start compared to where we were a couple of years ago, but not the finish line.....
If I haven’t said it lately, Chief Cox is an outstanding leader. I have experienced four of them and it’s my belief that Cox is the most sincere.
That being said, I’m still waiting on a more liberal grooming standard.
Kind of hard to show up when you have to work a part-time, it is your regular shift, or your in special ops and they change your hours to work while the meeting is going on. Not saying that's where everyone was at, but that's where a lot of officers were. Why has this blog turned into attacking each other for expressing a concern?
Agreed as a guy who's also worked for four chiefs. Cox is the most real Chief I've worked for...he may be in a tie with Chief New. Good move on the tattoos. Now why not improve morale and recruiting by allowing a little chin hair? Violators should have to be clean shaven for six months before they earn their privileges back. We could put it out on social media, too. A sample policy follows.
http://www.therepublic.com/2018/11/29/beards_exposed_tattoos_approved_for_police_officers_changes_expected_to_help_recruitment/
Showing up at the meetings are too late. You heard February 2, 2020 at 8:24 PM we do not have a seat at the table. There needs to be more involvement by the officers and not selective input. The plan we were fed did not come from a good group of officers out here or seniority and compression would not be continually kicked down the road. Ungrateful?? We are still here and what we have been dealt shows who is truly ungrateful. Showing up to be spit on does nothing. Look at the time we are away from home and now you want me to come to the spit party on my dime. There is an easy fix. It is called doing the right thing by taking care of senior officers first. New officer are enjoying take home cars and raises. So no they are not enlightened to the truth. We are divided. That's just a fact.
to the February 6, 2020 at 12:04 PM post. Id rather run short shift and have a quality beat partner at my side or en route to me than some of the manpower on the road today. Our standards were lowered and the quality of officer wearing the French Blue Cobb uniform reflects that. I am not grateful. I do not owe Cobb County anything. I come do my job, I go home! I use to come in on my off days and volunteer for any help that was needed. Come early and stay late. I realized the truth that many youngsters do not. We do not appear critical to the public because we have many coming in on their off days to make the schedule submitted appear full. When in fact it is not. So those who work their off time filling beats for a few hours early or late actually hurt our ability to show the public how bad we are staffed. I say do what you need to do for your family, but do not tell me what I see is not happening. It is the BOC and the CS that should be grateful we still show up. Oh and please stop with this facial hair BS. I mean if that is the only problem you have in life then your life is great. I am tired of hearing about outer vest and chin hair when the my costs keep going up. Pensioners, the county does not blink or ask us how our finances are when they "tell" us they are digging deeper into our pockets. Grateful. Make me vomit
You mad, bro?
This guy is toxic. His attitude has to affect the people around him, yet he is too angry to see it. I really hope he/she isn’t in a leadership position. I bet it is a drag for young officers getting new cars and raises if he/she is a supervisor. The CS may not have a lot of influence on the budget, but they can help to remove toxic individuals from this noble profession.
To Feb 7 at 238PM.
If you think the poster is "Toxic" you are either CS, Blind, a Fool or all the above!!
He or she speaks only the truth and if that upsets you then leave and go to another department.
This county only makes it's decision(s) to change it's pay and benefits not because it's the right thing to do or because it's fair and competitive. The county ONLY does the minimum because it allows them to "check a box" and say they offer competitive/fair pay and benefits.
Look around at the growth in this county, not only residential (which per realtor.com the average median sale price is $280,000) but the growth of commercial buildings that are being built. And a cobb officer with a family (1 or 2 incomes) can NOT afford to live in cobb where the good schools are located.
The longer you work here the more you will learn if you allow yourself to look and listen to the truth. One day you will be a senior officer here and if things don't change for the better you will be the one ignored by the county.
To those that say that the county is acting as a "fiscally conservative county", think again!
How "fiscally conservative" is it to train/invest $90K in an individual for the same police officer position every 2-3 years?
If the county was a private sector company, the boc would be fired for wasting the shareholder's money this way.
You say "Id rather run short shift and have a quality beat partner at my side or en route to me than some of the manpower on the road today...." There's been weeks where I never had a beat partner and several days I have worked all shift without seeing another officer after squad meeting. And I don't think anyone cares that much about beards or pants we just want as many acceptable applicants as we can get. How many valuable military guys did we skip over because of tats that have been scooped up by other depts.
To AnonymousFebruary 6, 2020 at 7:25 PM
No way man. No accusations made. Everyone understands the struggle. But just like we are there to cover beats for each other, we need to get with each other and make sure SOMEONE is there to represent us and be seen.
At the promotion ceremony yesterday they mentioned processing 80 applications and hired 7.
In my mind filling beats for command staff is like trying to manage $1000 worth of bills with $700.
It's up to the BOC. They control our manpower with the purse strings
It's a sad observation I made also. I think it's simply a symptom of low morale.
As I have been vocal about my concern I don't want it to be misinterpreted. I do recognize the 7% raise and the assigned vehicle program as progress. I am concerned about the issue that I
raised and future boards not being bound by the plan. But I do want to recognize the efforts of Director Heaton and Director Crider as doing the best they can with the resources they are given. Again I am attaching my name to this.
While we fight with the BOC, the state legislature is looking to replace us. Let’s focus on providing quality police service to the community and find meaningful and respectful ways to address the pay issue. Because I for one will not work for a Neil Warren for any amount of money.
https://www.mdjonline.com/news/cobb-s-top-law-enforcers-back-county-police-department/article_01ba90d0-49fd-11ea-9916-2b98372b8643.html
Thats one idiot who got elected by idiots in Brunswick, GA. That will never happen as the cost it would take for and SO to intergrate personnel and equipment along with its affect on the community is fiscally unaffordable.
So lets stick to issues that really matter.
That bill is because a Glynn County PD officer got away with murder and then killed someone a few years later. Its only going to happen if the citizen of the county absolutely hate the service provided by the department. Not going to be a problem here.
Respectfully disagree with you. Despite manpower and morale being low, providing quality police service to the county has NOT been sacrificed.
And that says a lot about the officers working a beat day in and day out.
Before y'all start GTAC'ing the "step in grade" and the boc's promises of putting officers in the step plan based on years of service.
Just remember this is the same boc, "public safety is our #1 priority", just 2 months ago (back in December) who's answer to retention was forcing officers to stay longer than 2 years.
'We're just chasing a rabbit': County head asks lawmakers to limit poaching of police officers | News | mdjonline.com
https://www.mdjonline.com/news/we-re-just-chasing-a-rabbit-county-head-asks-lawmakers/article_a8319bca-1870-11ea-bf9a-2f2400ec132e.html
Nope, you don’t get to control the narrative. We should be prepared for every eventuality.
Before Step and Grade there was no path to 74k a year laid out for patrol guys. The retirement needs a lot of work but it looks like we're heading in the right direction. Unlike the Vest carrier debacle....
Does anyone have an update for when they are going to decide on a vest?
Of course it's a step in the right direction.
But as it stands right now all raises are still approved by the boc which makes it a "Hybrid Step and Grade" Sound familiar?
Of course it does, it's the cobb way, take a legitimate process and spin it.
And based on raises given in my tenure at cobb a Step 1 officer, at best, is looking at 32 years to reach Step 16.
Look at the boc, if major changes aren't made this coming election, past practice tells me nothing will change. It will just be more talk and more empty promises of GTAC.
This isn't me being negative or "toxic". This is me just being honest and I truly hope I'm wrong.
And don't hate the player hate the game. Instead of calling me negative or toxic direct your energy at the boc and hold them accountable.
Unless Chief lied to everyone at active shooter training WE are going to be deciding which vest, but I have not heard an updated ETA. He said everything was depending on the body cam situation, which it is my understanding the contracts have been signed.
Yep, you should have it by tomorrow!
Chief, I'd like to go on record saying that since we can get all these new tattoos, will have this new cool looking vest soon and a modified grooming standard; would it be possible to extend the hair length and wear man-buns in lieu of hats, wear wife beaters with the vests. Oh and while we are at it I'd like to suggest BDU shorts and flip flops too. I think that if this ensemble is permitted with some good braided chin whiskers that moral here would sky rocket. Heck I even bet officers would forget about pay and benefit issues and even our Lady officers could quit plucking the chin whiskers we know they have. Now you have the rest of the story!
Smells like command staff up in here. Stop trying to cheapen a legitimate issue with your trolling.
I have concerns about this being a 4 year process. We have "started" multi year programs before. So you remember that we only did half of the pay study recommendations because of money and we were going to fix it later. The pay study suggested raise the new hire pay, which we did, and an across the board raise to address compression. The board was going to handle the other half, the across board raise, was going to be handled when they had the money. They forgot about that. The 4% last year across the board was not the other half of the pay study. My point is the board starts these multi year programs then drops off and Hope's we forget about it. That was less than 4 years ago.
"There's been weeks where I never had a beat partner and several days I have worked all shift without seeing another officer after squad meeting."
This is a bit of a stretch, don't you think? If you don't see other officers during your shift then maybe you need to stop hiding behind the strip mall and work.
Still waiting on what is by far the single most inconsequential concern imaginable? Keep waiting.
24 year year officer going in as a step 12.... OK, I'm a 20 year officer going in as an 11. And still getting a raise. Would it make you feel better if they just renamed Step 12 to Step 24, and Step 16 became Step 28? It's ridiculous to think they're going to take me, with a current base of a little over 65K, and put me straight into making 74K just because the number assigned to the step for that pay step is the closest number to my years of service. Who cares what the step # is and whether or not it aligns even remotely to your years of service? I don't. They can put me in at "Step 1" if they want, as long as "Step 1" still equates to me getting a raise. I was getting to within 1, maybe at most 2, raises of being topped out. Now I have quite a bit more room I can move on up. What number they decide to appoint to that topped out "step" doesn't concern me in the least.
There's only one word for anyone whose idea of "work" when there's multiple open beats is to go out and make C18s and stop 54s, Blue Falcon. I also have WORKED a handful of days where I haven't seen another officer after leaving the Pct. Days where I didn't get a call that needed C7, 45's, simple 41's, even some minor 414's. But I've worked PLENTY of days where we've had to let calls hold, sometimes for hours, because going C7 was more important. I recall specifically a 45 call I was going to a few weeks ago. I pulled off that call "C8 prior" to C7 somebody on more important calls FOUR different times before I finally made it there, well over an hour later. My shift runs 2 open beats almost every single day. Having only 1, as opposed to 2+, open beats now is much less common than having a 51 or 52 car was 8 or 10 years ago. I've heard guys come in and look at the schedule before squad meeting and say only 1 open beat? Is it too late to take A/L???
Wanting to wear pajamas to work so you can look like a ninja and grow a beard like a wannabe operator is definitely not a legitimate issue...... Do we need vest carriers? Yes. We need to get this weight off our hips. It's a long term health issue. But do we need vest carriers that look like they were left over props from the last GI Joe movie? Nope. And I agree with the Chief. I saw a Marietta guy the other day. He had a beard. His vest was all faded like a life jacket out of the bottom of grandpa's boat. He looked like a joke. I would've assumed he was a security guard if I hadn't watched him get out of a Marietta PD Explorer.... Do we need to be able to grow beards and goatees? Absolutely not.
Yeah, cause why would you want to top out by year 5 or 12 like the rest of the law enforcement industry outside of the southeast(sarcasm)?
These Officers that are poopooing beards and carrier vests are missing the point. Cobb needs branding overhauling to remain competitive. Chick Fil A has a whole commercial with an Officer in a vest carrier and full beard. This is where we are in contemporary America, we have to move forward with the time.
Adjust the grooming policy and fix the uniform!
The officer in the commercial is a former CCPD officer
I think we should worry less about how we look and more about being competitive with other departments. We definitely aren't competitive with pay, benefits, or morale. The police department can't do much about the first 2 but can help morale. And don't start telling me my "command presence" comes from shiny shoes, Easter pants, and cowboy hats. Being so concerned about looks is why we spent all that money on hubcaps for so many years. The entire police profession has realized taking weight off the belt and onto a vest equals healthier officers and lower medical/insurance costs. Some of y'all sound scared of change and are still mad from when we went from horses to patrol cars.
Ah ha, well said kind sir! Valid points!
Well said Sir or Ma'am.
Beards.....Half of you only have to shave once a week as it is.
Well played, Sir.
At least nobody quit this week.
We got a fancy new recruiting car before we got outer vests.
I believe the recruiting car replaced the one that burned up. Maybe an insurance payout?
I think the overhaul that is needed has nothing to do with beards, outer vests. You gotta look like a bag of nuts, feel good types need to go work for google. There is no reason not to look like you shower regularly and are not in your pajama pants and top all day. Could there be a more beneficial duty uniform, possibly. The uniform is not the problem with this agency and for those of you that keep crying about as a priority need to quit taking your delusional medications.
Simply put, the only problem the BOC and the Chief's office need to worry about right now is a real competitive pay and benefits package. Nothing more and nothing less. The vest and beards are for you children who have yet to take the pacifiers out of your mouths.
An Ohio Chief bans vest carriers for his Officers. Of Course this was not a popular decision for the Chief, but I feel it was the proper decision. A link to the story is below and here is a quote from that chief.
“What it comes down to is there are some young officers on this department who have never been said ‘no’ to before and they have to understand that I’m the chief of police and I make those decisions,” said Kral. “… But I know a big concern for the officers is with the vest because takes all of the pressure off of their back and their hips. … The new solution comes with a built-in suspender system that clips onto their belt keepers. It does the exact same thing.”
https://www.policeone.com/officer-safety/articles/ohio-pd-bans-tactical-vests-for-officers-GQ9UicWszA2b8gTZ/
That chief is either bowing to public opinion or kissing up to the Democrat mayor. Now they're gonna spend more money to go back to the old uniform because of people's feelings. Their old uniform also had drop leg holsters for tazers. Even with suspenders that's a lot of weight on two narrow strips on your shoulders. Plus when you bend over the outer belt pulls up and the trouser belt goes down so when you stand up they don't align looking like a soup sandwich. That's not a very good leader ignoring everything his employees say. https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/chief-bans-officers-from-wearing-outer-vests-because-were-not-soldiers/
Sounds ridiculous. Sounds like people don't like progress or something that works just because it looks scary or changes a uniform. It sounds like this chief wanted to show who had the big dick and laid down the law. Seems like some people in this department are also against progress. We should be doing the things which make us better tactically and physically. Not worrying about what it looks like. This includes the outdated uniforms which are ridiculously overpriced. Work smarter not harder. But we don't do that in any area of the department.
Cobb's Community Affairs unit wears nylon gear and BDU pants. Tell me again how bad such things are for public perception? Any argument based on "appearances" is invalid. And I suspect most people that are against policing in outer vests have probably never policed in an outer vest
Well said!!
Doesn't Community Affairs wear the same uniform as VIPER?
Outer vests are coming.
News Flash. We have always been slow getting things done.
I'm not going to lie though. I do agree that the millennials need to be told "No" and need to remember they are not driving this train.
Millenials also need to remember that when the market turns and people want government jobs for the security, their antics will not be tolerated and their comments will be remembered.
I don’t think millennials are doing the complaining. They are taking advantage of the free market and getting results. The old heads are the ones not satisfied their own marketability.
Feb 22 @ 954am,
I'm not even remotely close to being a millennial and I partially agree that telling them "No"(especially when comes to a specialized unit or a new car).
However, I've been here for half of most of our millenial's life on this planet and have less than 10 years left.
And even though your last paragraph is true (sadly) that's a HUGE part of the problem with cobb.
cobb ONLY does things for its employees because they have to and NOT because it's the fair and competitive thing to do.
And that's why we're in the boat we're in now.
That old mindset is a cancer that needs to change, from CS down to the officers, so the department here can change for the better.
Look, I'm not asking for much... I just want a simple goatee. It is a long over due policy change. What is command staff afraid of? Too sexy?
You may want that goatee but it just doesn't look good on women, whether in uniform or not.
So now the step and grade implementation isn't going to happen the way they first told us but they aren't putting any of that information out...
Explain in more detail or don't post crap like that.
Ask around about the three year plan to fix compression, no one has a real answer except that it is not going to be what they talked about. And chill out with the attitude, we all know you are upset but don't worry you'll get that beard one day to accompany your sleeve tattoos tough guy.
Fake News.
I just can't wrap my head around this place. I have been reading these posts for a long time and decided to finally post. And to the naive command staff who say it's the same 5 or 6 guys who post on here, well i'm not one of those guys.
My real issue, and I think it is the underlying issue of many of the posts I read on here, is why is information so damn guarded? The chief told us all at active shooter he was considering beards, and wanted to do a test to see how the gas masks fit. Fair enough. I could care less about a beard and never plan to grow one even if it is allowed. But people on here seem to care about it. Also at active shooter was the discussion about these outer vests. The Chief displayed 4 or 5 options, and his words were that he was going to send out a survey and let officers vote on which one they want. For those that want to argue about the vest, it's pointless. If you don't like it don't wear it. Stick to a class A if the "This is out brand" of the Houser era is how you feel. No shame in that, enjoy the pins and buttons and blue pants and let the younger guys who want to try a new system do so.
Before I go too deep down a rabbit hole, I want to get back to my main point. And that is lack of information. Chief you damn said it. That's all there is to it. You said something, and now people want to hear your decision. Make one and put it out. This gossip and rumor mill BS that everyone feeds off is because there is an information vacuum. It was 4 or 5 months ago that you brought these two topics up, make a damn decision and put it out so everyone can move on. Your not gonna make everyone here happy, either decision will be criticized but I'm saying just make a damn decision and let everyone know.
And to the command staff that has been trolling on here. Shame on you. Your supposed to be professionals and talk in front of a room about how this blog is just a bunch of complainers. But it has 170 posts these last two months. It has an impact. And some of you have outed yourselves because the same BS you troll with on here you say in person, so don't say you don't read or write on here. Be a professional and hold yourself to a higher standard and stop lying.
Chief I respect you and I like you. Both as a person and a Chief. But please make and announce a decision. Lay all this to rest.
The point is there is a lot the command staff, precinct leadership, and shift supervision can do to increase morale that doesn't cost money. No one expects the board to do the right thing and no one expects to make decent money. But if the chain of command, starting with Sergeants, worked harder at making this a good environment that puts officers first it will go much farther than a pay raise in the long run.
Sharing information is a key part of that. Nothing about anything we do or plan to do needs to be held between a select few.
One of the things a lot of people have forgotten when they make rank is that leaders work for their people not the other way around. A Sergeant's job is to make sure that his/her troops have everything they need to do their job and to protect them from the crap that rolls downhill. And each step up in the chain has the same responsibility to those below them.
Leadership needs to learn what their job is. I would say they need to remember their job but it is obvious they never knew it, now is the time for them to step up and fix the sinkhole that is CCPD.
Everyone should have seen this since it was required viewing / sign-off in Power DMS
Policy 2.07 (Grooming Standards) effective date: January 27, 2020
see Section I,A,3,d should answer any questions about beards.
3: Facial Hair. The face shall be clean shaven, but mustaches are permitted. A mustache will be neatly and closely trimmed.
a. No portion of the mustache shall extend below the lip line of the upper lip.
b. It will not go beyond a horizontal line extending across the corners
of the mouth, and no more than l/4 inch beyond a vertical line drawn
from the corner of the mouth.
c. Handlebar mustaches are not permitted.
d. Beards are only permitted with a documented medical waiver from
a healthcare provider for those sworn employees with a medical
condition that prohibits shaving. Beards permitted under this waiver
must be neatly trimmed and shall not exceed one-quarter inch in
length. Medical waivers require routine reauthorization at least once
every twelve months and examination by a healthcare provider
designated by the County may be required to confirm the diagnosis.
Confucius say: In regards to the outer vests, be patient young grasshopper. Sometimes issues develope beyond someones control and they must work through those issue while attempting to keep their promise.
And?
And “what”. It’s not hard to understand.
The policy is clear. Beards for people with a medical issue. No beards for people without a medical issue.
I have already seen officers wearing beards due to a medical waiver.
Command staff/County Leaders say: Good things are coming.....
And what is that people are not pushing for beards for medical issues. Thats a basic accommodation that should be made for medical reasons. People are pushing for beards because that's the trend and that is something that could possibly boost morale just a little bit for a few people. As silly as that one small thing is, maybe it would be something that would keep someone here. If that one little free thing keeps someone here i am all for it. At this point, we are one of the only metro agencies that dont allow them (outside of the medical waiver). Dont like beards? Keep shaving. Dont like tattoos? Shield your eyes. Its not so much about these individual things as it is about bringing us into the current time and matching the current trends.
It's all based on perspective.
There are always going to members of the CoC that under perform just like officers that under perform. Some that are scared of their shadows and some that believe in asking for forgiveness instead of permission. I have learned over the years that putting out information that is subject to change turns into "So an so said this" then when it changes they say "So and so is incompetent or they lied"
I know for a fact that the workers at 2 and I hear at 3 are getting after it everyday.
Self pity is a cancer.
But Cobb is self insured, so.........
Thanks Chief! I almost forgot about daylight savings time.
Comments like this are unnecessary and ridiculous. Maybe if you helped support the chain of command, when they are obviously just trying to helpful then the overall attitude would improve. You might think making little jokes like this are ok but you are adding to the problem. Unless you want to be a part of the solution you should exercise some maturity and keep these comments to yourself.
It doesnt matter what the BS policy says today, what it needs to read tomorrow is congrats you get a 1/4 inch goatee policy change now leave me a lone and get off muh lawn!
Ever wonder what is going to be next for the millenials?
"Sir, I believe skirts and colored hair should be optional changes to the uniform policy. But ya know only red, white or blue hair colors"
So our department's biggest issue is manpower/hiring and your thought is to publicly ridicule an entire generation. Don't you think prospective recruits read this blog? Are you actually helping our department or just stirring the pot and making dumb jokes? I think we should hire everyone willing and able and let training clean them up/sift through them in the DT room. I'm not a millennial and don't like the attitude of many younger people but I'm giving everyone a chance that volunteered to put on a badge and get shot at....
Post a Comment