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Whoops! Union To Revise Sheriff Ads

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By MIKE WELLS and ANTHONY McCARTNEY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 28, 2007

Updated: 11/28/2007 01:11 am

TAMPA - Union versus sheriff commercial - take two.

After inserting bloated crime stats into an ad campaign aimed at Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee, the union that represents his deputies has retracted its radio spots and revised them.

The organization intends similarly to revise the brochures it mailed to 80,000 homes by including a disclaimer in the next group it mails, spokesman Jim Spearing said.

On Monday, the Central West Florida Police Benevolent Society began airing ads on three local radio stations. Talking in alarming terms about a shortage of deputies, the announcer recited last year's crime totals over ominous music and urged the public to call the sheriff.

In taking responsibility for what he called a "hiccup," Spearing said he mistakenly included numbers from more than the unincorporated portion of the county that the sheriff's office patrols.

The ads lumped in totals from the cities of Tampa, Plant City and Temple Terrace, and from airport and university police. That implied to listeners and readers that the sheriff's office responded to more than twice the number of murders and robberies than it actually did.

"They're still god-awful," Spearing said of the true totals. "But we will swap the spots. ... We don't want to be inaccurate."

The sheriff's office and PBA have been at an impasse in labor contract negotiations since September. The union's two-year contract with the sheriff expired Sept. 30, and deputies have continued working under the terms of the old agreement without raises.

Hillsborough County's negotiations with its firefighters union have been conducted without the public fireworks. County commissioners will be asked to ratify a two-year extension that grants the county's roughly 800 firefighters a 3.5 percent raise this year.

Gee said the radio ad seemed nearly identical to one running in Tallahassee, another jurisdiction embroiled in a contentious union dispute over a pending contract.

The sheriff called the ad "bare-knuckle politics."

Gee said manpower concerns were never mentioned during contract negotiations.

The union is trying to strike fear in residents, when all the negotiations are about at this point is more money, the sheriff said.

Spearing said going to the public for help was a last resort kind of act fueled by the frustration deputies are feeling.

They "don't feel like they're being taken seriously," Spearing said. "Their concerns are not being met."

Deputies are hurting without a new contract, he said.

"Our people are ready, willing and able" to sit down at the bargaining table, Spearing said. "That's got to happen, and the sooner the better."

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com. Reporter Anthony McCartney can be reached at (813) 259-7616 or amccartney@tampatrib.com.

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