I have a stake, both as a taxpayer and as a law enforcement family member, in the current political fight that is plaguing this county.
As a taxpayer, I am angry that people whether they are regular county employees, police or other emergency personnel have become pawns in a battle of political wills. I did not vote Gimenez as Mayor or any commissioner into office to do that to the county employees. I did not vote for there to be chaos in my government and lay-offs.
I voted for these people to be rational about county expenses. The county needed to be looking at the operational costs outside of the personnel costs; the savings are available by looking at the operations. I lost hope in Gimenez being rational the minute he hired five “assistant” mayors at a cost over a million bucks even though he “cut” from his office budget. He should have left us with a substantial saving, not a trade-off.
Miami Dade police officers are now in harm’s way as police officers, as well as being a target for the political games for which this community is famous. They are obviously being distracted by this issue. Who wouldn’t be distracted when they are caught-up in something that stands to change their lives forever? In police work, distraction equal injuries or worse.
Have any of you seen the crime rate for 2011? It is up. It is up even with the police having full staff. Crime is up in burglary and flat in auto theft and robbery. These are the crimes that impact us the most. We will notice crime go up as officers are shifted to respond to calls and pro-active specialized units such as the narcotics units are disbanded.
Additionally, have you noticed that no one is discussing the attrition that the police department faces this year? They are losing in the neighborhood of 100 officers to retirement. The county just laid off 150. It takes over a year, thousands of job applicants, background checks and 70,000 dollars per officer to train police. Where is the cost savings in firing officers and having them leave the county to work for other governments when we know we will have to have three police training classes to cover the attrition?
I would like my Kendall and other South Dade neighbors to mull over the impact of South Dade losing over 20 officers in one station alone.
You think that if you live in any of the South Dade cities you are not affected? Do you think Pinecrest, the Bays, Homestead and Florida City aren’t impacted by the Gimenez/commission feud? Really?
Here’s a news flash: the intrusion of crime doesn’t stop at your city limits… if there are less police in the areas outside your city, you can expect those areas beyond your boundaries to need more support from your police through mutual aid agreements. And the reverse is true, if your city police need back-up for your crisis, you certainly want county officers free to assist.
Don’t forget you most likely shop, bank and eat in areas that are protected by county police. You need to learn the phrase, “Calls Holding” so you understand why police aren’t responding to your 911 calls as fast you would like in the mall parking lot. By the way, “calls holding” and slower response time is the result of having a shortage of officers and a higher crime rate driving up the number of calls filtering through 911.
The South Dade districts (South, Kendall and Hammocks) make up the largest districts in the county. With the South District being the largest district land-wise and with the other two districts being heavily congested by traffic, their officers already have to move fast to cover calls. The officers already go call to call. They work hard to provide service without jeopardizing public safety or theirs.
What this all boils down to, we the public, along with our police, are being placed in harm’s way by this political nonsense. I don’t pay taxes to wonder when the police will have the time to respond to my call. I do pay taxes for services and for the safety of my family.
I challenge you to ask for the 2011 crime stats for your area of the county. Ask for it by violent and non-violent targeted crimes and ask for it in detail (and year-to-date). While you are at it, don’t forget to ask for the stats on calls holding and response time for 2011 and ytd. Now is the time to benchmark those numbers.
When you are in OZ you have to look behind the curtain. The truth within county government is always what you don’t see. Don’t accept the spin when the State of the County address rolls around. It’s an election year and trust me, the public always gets played as suckers when the stakes are high.
41 comments:
The taxpayers in Miami-Dade County truly deserve everything they get in this situation. By casting votes, or in most cases not voting at all, for individuals guided not by the interests of their constituents but by lobbyist monies, and by refusing to part with one extra dime in higher taxes even as they load up their charge cards with holiday purchases, they have brought this shitstorm on themselves.
Unfortunately they don't have the smarts to realize it even as the home invader comes through the back door and police response is 10 minutes, instead of 3 minutes, away.
Sit back and enjoy the ride, folks. It's all your making.
As a county officer for south district, the cuts were more than 20 officers. It is my understanding that there was approximately 34 officers, 3 sergeants and lt were gone on friday. That is more than one entire 8 hour shift of officers if the average police squad has 8-10 officers on it.
This will effectively cause the department to disband the community policing unit (the officers who work with and respond to community quality of life complaints), the school support programs (GREAT, DARE and others), the crime suppression team (which deals with street level narcotics) and the special enforcement team (which targets areas that show up as "hot spots" for burglaries and violent crimes) in order to fill road patrol spots. You may see the same number of cars, however the services like the detectives and other vital support for both the road officers and community is bound to be affected sooner or later.
Policing is not a 9 to 5 job. We don’t go home and stop being police officers. We live the job. Our families live the job. We get phone calls, people knocking on our home doors, and stopped on the streets - all when we are not on the county clock. Police officers are expected to respond to life crisis’s 24/7.
When we are on the clock, 99.9% of us strive to go a good job. Actually, we try to do a better than good job. We move from call to call as effectively as we can. People matter to us or we would not be police officers. We try to put order and reason in situations where there is fear and pain. As employees, our moves, whereabouts and even how we think is carefully monitored. We work and live under a microscope. How many other jobs other than law enforcement have that level of reporting for their employees? Yet, we still made the commitment to serve the public.
As a group we go above what our county job description asks for. Yet, we are rewarded by criticism, pay cuts and demotions. And you wonder why we are angry?
Yes, I am disgruntled and upset. I am not alone, this is the feeling of alot of officers right now.
This political nonsense has created a perfect storm for hardworking taxpayers and and a playground for the criminals. I read yesterday that 21 correctional institutions are closing laying off over 1400 officers where are they placing the inmates in our backyard oh and with fewer officers (the mayor is a genious) the blood that WILL shed and notice I said WILL because there is no doubt crime will increase that Blood will be in Mayor Jimenez hands... Oh I hope he does not need the assistance if 911 anytime soon his call will be in HOLD like everyone else's. All I know is we Rwbgwrring ready for a war teaching my girls too shoot a gun since that will be our only piece of mind start packing you will need it.
As a retired state legislative employee, I am very aware of the connection of taxes and the level of services to the residents of wherever. The usual course of action is to call for lower taxes by slashing the salaries and benefits of the rank and file employees (union and non-union) and the safety net of our most vulnerable citizens but continue hiring high administrative personnel at stratospheric salaries and benefits paid by the taxpayers, including those whose salaries and safety nets have been cut. And, let us not even look into the gifts awarded by the legislature in the state budget which contains the outrageous hidden grants to their friends under the "proviso language" section in the line items.
The post and the comments demonstrate why the PBA will ultimately win the battle over compensation. County police have no shame in trying to scare (or intimidate) the public into conceding to their compensation and staffing demands.
Never mind that by any fair measure they are paid at the upper, upper end of the scale for police officers in South Florida. Forget that their compensation packages permit them to retire with full pay and benefits often before reaching the age of 50.
Ignore that the county is tied up in knots by the union contract, so much so that the PBA leadership may sue to control who gets terminated and who is retained.
The irony of the post is that now the PBA wants county residents to worry about layoffs that their union forced by not making the same concessions all the other bargaining units made.
Mayor Gimenez is getting my vote just for standing up to these folks.
Forget the union. Rivera is doing his job and I don't think any of the officers are particularly fond of him. But, what I can see no one else is lending a voice to the employees and they struggle to fight the politics of it because of retribution.
As a social worker that works in the community streets (as opposed to an hospital, etc.), I will assure you that crime rate will go up. The blog said the 2011 burglary rate was up. Well, of course it was, economic times are tough. Not that people out of work become criminals, but vacant houses become targets and are attractive for break-ins. Businesses become targets as people try to survive. It is a fact of the times. People do what people do.
Do you think that the bad guys don't know when and where the police are out? The layoffs are a great set up for us wondering about safety. You have the bad guys knowing that the police are gonna be running to calls. They will not be sitting at home. The bad guys know that the cops will not have time to stop if they see something suspicious. It is a perfect storm for us the taxpayer.
Approve the contribution = no layoffs. Simple. You are not being victims, you are being volunteers.
The police officers already contributed 20 percent pay cut to avoid the layoffs so they thought and then they where asked to give up more enough is enough . Bring on the crime and blood shed and watch them all get their jobs back....
March 2010 – All MDPD police began paying the 5% health insurance deduction
September 2010 – All MDPD police received a one step 5% increase in pay
July 2011 - All MDPD police received a 3% wage increase
September 2011 – All MDPD police received an additional one step 5% increase in pay
January 2012 - Proposed additional 5% health insurance deduction
Net pay increase for all MDPD police if the proposed deduction is approved = +3%
Source: PBA Contract Bullet Points 2008-2011
http://www.dcpba.org/ip.asp?op=cbupdate.
The county Commissioners who would not vote to approve the 5% contribution are COWARDS, who reniged on the already approved basis for balancing the budget. They must follow through on the only reasonable way to balance, and keep our law enforcement staffed, so that no one will lose their job.
The Mayor's plan in regards to the MDPD is to eliminate the last contract that gave the previous mentioned raises. Now the last poster did not take into consideration the 3 percent all employees contribute towards the Florida Retirement System. So, if the 5 percent in question is approved for a total of 10 percent, all of the last contract is negated. But, the loss to officers does not end there. The concessions made in the new contract also negates 10 previously paid Holidays, reduced court overtime and call out overtime for investigators who must respond to incidents after their shift has ended, ie. Homicide, Sex Crimes, Robbery, and others. A vehicle use fee, night pay for those whose shifts are afternoons and or midnights. These concessions are substantial to those in the Law Enforcemnet business. The concessions were agreed to because the rank and file knows that the community, the same one they are a part of is hurting. They also have family and friends who have suffered job loss. They also see first hand what desperate members of our community do in desperate times. Personal feelings aside, whether you like cops or not, they are as necessary as the air you breath. Sometimes they are fat and ugly, but if you get past that, know that they are constantly doing something to make this sometimes nasty town a bit safer. By the way, a neighbor that has never spoken a word in my direction, woke me in the middle of the night last Thursday because he confronted a less than civic minded member of my Kendall neighborhood stealing the inside of his BMW. Without hesitation, we (really just me), searched and found this cretan with all the loot. He was arrested of course everybody was happy. My fellow tax payer should be happy too, no overtime was incurred.
I can't believe that the police received 8% in pay increases over the past 6 months and yet they are whining that they will be in the poorhouse if they are required to pay that 5% deduction. Shame.
For clarification, the Health Care Contribution is indeed a pay reduction. The employee is additionally responsible to pay a biweekly premium for coverage and can't opt out to seek a cheaper alternative. Informing the last poster, is not whining. Whining would be asking to compare the MDFD contract to what the cops agreed to.
Did I just read that a police officer is crying because he now must pay 3% towards his special risk pension that allows him to retire after only 25 years? The taxpayers pay 14.10% towards his pension while he pays a mere 3%. The greed of county employees (and police officers in particular) knows no bounds.
It's after 30 years of service now for the new poor souls...because 25 years wasn't enough. By the way thank you very much for your contribution.
You are so off base calling union workers greedy. You earn my not worth a reply: Putz.
G.O.D., if you don't believe (like the majority of the public) that unionized government employees are greedy, how can we believe you on any issue?
Because your judgement is definitely skewed, we can't trust you on the charter amendments. I am voting against any changes.
Thank you EOM for being reasonable and factual. Public service employees and the unions to which they belong are not the diablos here. The diablos are the Commissioners who fail, year after year, to stop spending tax dollars on silly and ridiculous initiatives. Then turn around and try to blame the workers.
I don't want to see anybody laid off, particularly police officers or firefighters. But at some point, the voters must be given exactly what they have asked for with their votes.
Then reader, if you always do the opposite of God:
You support Lynda Bell, Natacha Seijas and Joe Martinez and absentee ballot manipulation.
That makes you a really big ass.
If unions people were making a million dollars I too would call them greedy. Most make under $50,000 can you blame them for trying to squeeze every penny? I do not. They are trying to survive in a bad economy where there home values have fallen and insurance has skyrocketed, cut them some slack.
Unions have protected the employees that do dangerous stuff, however, the also protect those responders that shouldnt be on job. Like life take the good with the bad. One Fireman from Miami explained their early retirement like this: Sir, do you really want a 65 y/o Fireman Dragging you to safety. At first I thought it was such a smartass comment until I thought about...
All I have to say is you get what you pay for. If I where cop which I am not you reduce my salary then I reduce my effort. You can't get the same service for less... It just does not work like that. As a citizen of the community I urge everyone to prepare yourselves for a war you are basically on your own (sink or swim).
You Get What You Pay For... When the s----hits fan then we revisit the Mayors plan . If I were a cop which I am not quite frankly you can't pay me enough to do that job but I were a cop and my salary is drastically reduced then so would the effort I put in I would do just enough to stay a float not above and beyond Forget that 24/7 leave the car at the station and when I am off I a am off that is exactly whars going to happen... And for those of you who think the mayor is right just don't be impatient when someone is braking in be understanding they will get there when they get there...
I would be interested in comparing it to the firefighter's contract. What did they get?
Rivera is shameful in creating a division between the police officers and the firefighters. The coverage area for MDPD has actually shrunk. What about the budget?
Alvarez gave the PBA a 10% parity pay in the midst of a recession. Rivera says that it's needed to keep pace with the firefighters. What Rivera doesn't say is that in the early 90's, the PBA cut a deal with the county to lower the starting pay rates for the police officers, basically selling out their future members. The firefighters did not accept the deal.
The PBA has done nothing but attack Gimenez. Why not ask Joe Martinez why he actually lowered the tax rate beyond what Gimenez proposed? If the PBA gave up the 5% extra for insurance, the net effect would be 0% as it relates to cost of living increases. There are other county groups who have fared much worst than the PBA.
Fortunately, I live in a city that has it's own police force. I would imagine that the push for new cities and their own police departments will do more harm to MDPD than the suggested pay cuts. Let new city commissions deal with these issues, not the county.
Oh, what would have Julio Robaina proposed and have handled this deal if here were mayor?
I wonder if one reason the Unions have lost some of their power is because so many members have moved to Broward and they and their families no longer vote in Dade.
In any event, the politics was the vote several months ago to decrease taxes. And, let's face it, that was want most people wanted.
Now it is simply a matter of paying for that cut by firing people or by imposing an additional 5%. It is a no-brainer to impose the 5%.
Anyone who claims that they cannot afford the 5% cut should placed to be at the top of the list to be fired and then asked what they think about the additional 5% cut. I think they might experience an epiphany and change their minds.
This is. It about the 5 percent it's about priorities and respect. Let me remind you once again the PO have already taken a reduction in pay of neatly 20 percent and they voted for this to avoid lay offs. And then the snake in the grass went back on his word and asked for more... Well they are not idiots Enough.
The idea that there should be "parity" between the firefighters and police is substantively bankrupt. Why? They do completely different jobs, face different risks and are paid for from different pots of money.
Hiring workers should be done at the margin. What this means for most employers is that you pay the least amount necessary to ensure sufficient qualified candidates. Of course, doing so creates inequities over time, but that's what incentive pay is for.
We as taxpayers would never accept the county buying goods and services unless doing so was based on the best market price at the time of purchase. We must demand that employees be paid using the same constraints to protect public money.
Love the Union Bashing just wish the same energy would be used on the Politicians. Joe Martinez voted for the Tax reduction just to set up Jimenez! Why doesn't County just use the Fiscal Urgency Statute like the City of Miami and end all this Drama!
Didn't the City of Miami cops and firemen take a 30% pay cut that was up held by the courts??
Division? There is no division between those who work side by side on a daily basis. But the proof is in the pudding. MDFD'S new contract eliminates the 5 percent contribution, continues to pay all observed holidays-minus three which must be taken as unpaid furlough days. MDFD firemen that commence employment with both EMT & Paramedic certification automatically move up to pay step 4 and 5 respectively, and also receive 20 percent above the step pay for the cert. None of their 5 percent pay increases for additional certifications were changed. However, they did agree to no wage adjustments for the length of the contract. Fair concessions, but hardly a blip on the radar in comparison to the mauling MDPD sustained. The assertion that Rivera sold the cops out in '90 is simply inaccurate. What was mutually agreed upon between the two was that both firemen and cops would ascend to a pay step three, upon successful completion of their training. That changed over time and went unnoticed. Parity is all that was asked for. Now the question is, if there is money for the goose, where is the money for the gander?
The issue here is simply that Mayor Gimenez asked the PBA and Local 1403 (Firefighters) to support his run for Mayor. The PBA said no and 1403 contributed $50,000 to his PAC in 3 payments. The consequences are clearly demonstrated in the union contract that they each got. The citizens were fooled by Braman's "concern" for the recall which in reality was a payback for the former Mayor's support for the stadium. Gimenez will be defeated in August because every one of the 26,000 employees will vote against him including the firefighters.
Yes and the money spent by the PBA on the from recall was protection money, right?
Both the police and fire unions have absurdly one-sided contracts that are not in the taxpayers' interests.
Now is the time to give employee compensation the serious review it demands. Most of the general public have no idea how generous these packages are.
I don't get it. Almost all the county attorneys make over $200,000 but you all begrudge the police from getting their share, far less than the lawyers, even though the police put their life on the line.
The County is bankrupt because it has to pay the interest on all of its outstanding bonds to the tune of $765M a year. Just read Commissioner Suarez's report. The tunnel and the stadium have bankrupted the County not the employees and their unions. The employee concessions are huge. How many of the readers are ready to do their jobs for 25% less? Thats right take no pay for three months out of the year. Stop bashing the employees and hold your elected officials accountable for their misspending. Most employees are professionals and dedicated to the job. A great number of them have college degrees and state licenses. Read the requirements on some of the job descriptions before you think they make too much. Challenge the Mayor to find the money elsewhere and not balance the budget solely on the backs of the employees. No cuts to the county attorney's office?
We as taxpayers would never accept the county buying goods and services unless doing so was based on the best market price at the time of purchase.
Dearest Reader:
You obviously have not met the county GSA. As a county employee, more often than not, I would go out and buy items for my office rather rip tax payers off.
I built out an office for a department and GSA put knobs on the cabinets--forget the fact the design had no knobs--a cost savings right there.
The knobs they put on, were not the right knobs for the function and believe it or not, they used had 3 different designs on the same cabinet system. At least they were all the same color. They actually offered to strip the laminate off the cabinets and redo them according to the design. I didn't let them do that and recharge the department.
I bought my own knobs and placed the county ones in a drawer. Many years later, when I left the county, I placed the county knobs back on the cabinet and took my home.
The county never reuses furniture. When a commissioner/new director comes in, it is out with the old and in with the new. You ought to ask how much an GSA purchased office set costs, it certainly isn't the price of one from Home Depot.
In 13 years as a police officers I have never seen such depressing times in the police department. I am not affected by the lay offs but I am affected financially with all the contributions we have already made. If YOU citizens of Miami Dade County think for one minute that loosing our life in a split second for any sum amount is really worth it, think again. I pray to God everyday that he brings me back to my child and husband. We do our jobs with great pride and honor. We do this job because we simply like helping others and do not fear what the average citizen would fear. I tell you if you don't think you will be affected by the lay offs or the pay cuts, you will. You will see with your two own eyes, crime rise, longer Police response time and moral, at titule Of those who serve our community. This is not a fight between police and fire, this is a fight of fairness. Have we already FORGOTTEN the loss of our heroes in SEPT 11, 2001? They had no choice but to die for what they did best SAVE LIVES.
Why do cops always speak as if they were drafted to do the job??? Becoming a police officer was a choice that they made. If you don't think you are paid well enough, then go find another job. Simple as that. You guys did really well under Alvarez, with a 13% increase, when the taxpayers were losing their houses, and jobs, and security. Your simply taking the medicine now that you should have taken 3 years ago. Stop the incesent whinning!! WAAAA, WAAAAA!!
And why do folks like you speak as if being a Cop is a seasonal job or a temporary way to make a living until something better comes along. I am ready to take the medicine, I hope you are too.
AJ-
I doubt the rest of the force would be so dishonorable and unprofessional as to fail to perform the job just because they are unhappy with this latest contract. Most officers I've met respect the badge too much to behave that way.
However, if any officer shirks his or her duty or is negligent, then he or she should be removed from the force immediately.
When such an officer finds out how the rest us are dealing with this economy, he or she will really understand what it means to take one's medicine.
The rest of us? So you believe that the Cops and their families live in a seperate community somewhere out there where they are immune to the collateral damage of this recession. I wonder what you do for a living that makes you know what Honorable and Professional means? You are correct on one thing though;I hate criminals moret han I do citizens who take me for granted.
The experiences I and other have had lead me to believe that the Police and Sheriff departments are filled with corruption, which of course is partially due to one just needing a GED for the job then you get a free car a gun and a badge and have the power to make up whatever you like on the citizens that pays your salary. I say keep the good ones and make it mandatory to at least have an Associates along with specialized training. Most these tough guys take away the're gun and badget ther're nothing but sissis. I feel giving uneducated people this much power is wrong.
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