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Union Allegations Prompt Sheriff To Speak Up

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2007

Hillsborough County citizens should be aware that the West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association has announced its intentions of bringing in political experts from Tallahassee to conduct a 'campaign' against the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office as a result of the current collective bargaining impasse.

In addition to personal attacks already made on myself and members of my staff in the media and other Web sites by members of the union leadership, the PBA leadership also has made reference on a number of occasions to issues which they inaccurately point to as examples of fiscal and operational mismanagement within the sheriff's office. The allegations have been publicly posted on TBO.com, the West Central Florida PBA Web site and in the union's newsletter.

It is extremely disappointing and regrettable that this small group of individuals has chosen to resort to these types of bullying and harassment tactics. As a point of clarification, I will outline some of these issues for you so that you may draw your own conclusion.

Union Assertion No. 1: The sheriff's office is not audited.

Fact: In addition to budget scrutiny by Hillsborough County government, an outside accounting firm, Ernst & Young, audits the Sheriff's Office every year. These independent audits have never produced an adverse finding regarding the Sheriff's Office finances.

Union Assertion No. 2: HCSO command staff is the highest, or one of the highest, in pay in the state.

Fact: The sheriff's office command staff is among the highest paid, just as our deputies are. The sheriff's salary is set by the state, and the command staff pay is calculated at a percentage of that. Note that this year my command staff, which supervises one of the largest suburban sheriff's agencies in the United States, will not get a raise. Zero.

Union Assertion No. 3: The sheriff's office spends millions of dollars on training centers, helicopters, gun boats and other items.

Fact: Absolutely. Our citizens demand the best-trained, best-equipped law enforcement agency. I will never back down from that commitment. Our new facility in west Brandon is a dual-division use: Training and Child Protective Investigations. We bought the former warehouse using state money and the Law Enforcement Trust Fund, which we get from criminals and criminal enterprises. Nearly $2 million was needed to refurbish and remodel the building, which will also house a back-up dispatch and 911 center, and a back-up computer center for seamless operations in the event of a natural disaster or other catastrophic event. That is called forward thinking and sound planning for the safety of citizens.

Yes, the sheriff's office did buy two helicopters. They will replace the last of the four 30-year-old-plus, non-FAA-certified former Army helicopters that made up our fleet. The citizens deserve a fully operational and able aviation unit, and our pilots and observers deserve the safest and most efficient aircraft to protect lives and property. Safety for our citizens; safety for our deputies.

Union Assertion No. 4: The sheriff's office is short-staffed because it won't hire pre-certified law enforcement officers.

Fact: The sheriff's office, like most major law enforcement agencies nationwide, is short-staffed but not because of a mandate to disqualify pre-certified officers. We recently graduated an entire module of pre-certified law enforcement deputies. Recruiting and hiring the best is a daily challenge. It is not made easier by the dissemination of statements based on ignorance or maliciousness. Likewise, we will never lower our hiring standards as some major metropolitan agencies did to fill positions. It would be irresponsible to impose upon the future of the sheriff's office and this community the inevitable corruption, malfeasance and criminal conduct that some other agencies experienced as a result of shortsighted decisions.

Union Assertion No. 5: The sheriff's office inappropriately uses deputies to set up golf tournaments, skeet shoots and other charity events to promote the sheriff's political agenda.

Fact: We are very proud of community events, from family fun days to charity events for the working poor, wayward youth and our troops. This is community oriented policing, and it represents a small part of the overall responsibilities of our Crime Prevention Bureau. Utilizing a deputy to help raise money for community organizations - or help steer a child in the right direction through the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches - is not inappropriate; it is admirable. We understand what researchers have repeatedly found: For every child you prevent from getting involved in crime, you save upwards of $50,000 a year in incarceration cost alone.

As you can see, these are issues which most often involve difficult decisions based on a number of subtle and broad-reaching factors that go far beyond looking at them in a dollars and cents vacuum.

Be assured that my command staff and I take seriously our responsibility in providing this community the most effective and efficient law enforcement services and providing our employees with the tools and training needed for that mission.

In these uncertain economic times I cannot, and will not, ignore the mandate for fiscal restraint from the constituency from which we receive all of our funding for the sake of political expediency from any special interest group.

David Gee is the Hillsborough County sheriff.

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