Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Police Shortages Nationwide

From a reader who forwarded us this New York Times article:
  • Among the depleted ranks of police departments throughout the country, it has come to this: desperate want ads offering signing bonuses to new recruits, and cops paying other cops to find new cops. (emphasis added)
And the mayor and his people want us to believe that 3,000 people signed up to take the police exam AND they're offering it 4 times this year? Sorry, but we are far from believing that one. We're more apt to believe Sharky who actually talked to people who know.

No one wants this job, and those who do, want it to pay for an advanced degree so they can QUIT as soon as they can and get a nicer job away from all the BS that goes on here. We were told that at the most recent FOP meeting, the pension board is seeing more and more guys quitting early - not just 20 and out, but EARLY as in walking away from it all. This isn't just a shortage - its a crisis in the making.

38 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

There once was a copper from wheeling........

12/28/2005 12:52:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

SHUT UP!

12/28/2005 01:23:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Then maybe we should get paid more..but in the end it will not happen & the police dept will be privatized!It will happen.

12/28/2005 01:25:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just look at LAPD hiring at the Gay Games!

12/28/2005 01:27:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No wonder no one wants this job


I was just watching the news
Theres was a situation in New Orleans where the police shot a rather large probably mentally disturbed man who seemed to be a person of color.

This individual was alleged to be armed with a knife.
He held several officers at bay none wanting to hurt him and all in fear of their safety, while he paraded around taunting them and acting the fool.

He continuously disobeyed their commands to drop his knife

Pepper spray had no effect om this person either because the spray missed him or because he was medicated enough to be impervious to it

As he lunged at an officer with his knife, we all know what happened next.

And now the mnedia is making the predictable big deal over this probably due to the skin color of the man who had the knife.

The officers involved are on administrative leave while the press, politicians and the civil rights leaders (all experts on disarming against edged weapons techniques and use of force laws) decide the fate of the officers who had the unfortunate burden of protecting themsleves from serious injury

Ladies and gentlemen, May the good Lord ride with you every tour and keep you safe and sound. You have an impossible task ahead of you

I thank Him for allowing me to coast these last few weeks to the pension bd

Back each other up. We are all weve got.
Be good to each other.

Im rounding third and heading for home

Happy Healthy new year to you all

12/28/2005 01:43:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am Spartacus...I mean, I am SCC!

The Interloper can go fuck himself!

12/28/2005 02:14:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I read something where one of the premier defense attorneys in N.O. actually observed most of the confrontation and went on record as saying the police did everything they could have to prevent the shooting. What is this world coming to? The next thing you dogs will be sleeping with cats...

12/28/2005 02:15:00 AM  
Blogger Paul Huebl Crimefile News said...

Let's see become a Chicago cop so you're always working in a fishbowl. GPS and cameras air in your future. Your Mayor does not trust you with a gun when you retire. Your city council is made up of fugitives from the laughing academey or worse (and all the real wackjobs pack heat!). Your seconed guessed to death. Your promotions and assignment are fixed by Mr. Ward Healer. Your degree that they want you to have will get you more money anywhere else. Anybody that would want to be a Chicago cop today is really a head case.

God save us all!~

12/28/2005 03:15:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

20 years ago when I got this job, I caught the end of the old school policing. Kick ass and take initials because we are too busy to write down the names.

Then Rodney King changed the way things got done. That incident made me do things better and more thorough because I didn't want to end up in jail because I was doing my job and the city wouldn't back me.

Then OJ changed the way domestic violence was handled. Again I was liable if I didn't follow the rules and probably would be the one going to jail or getting suspended for not doing my job to the standards of some idiot who has no clue what my job is.

I believe these things have made me a better police officer over the years. You have to be able to roll with the changes that come from the Hall or the skewed logic in our Legal Affairs office. Like it or not these people hold our jobs, lives, and livelihood in their warped minds.

Working the street is still fun, no matter how much you bitch and moan about it. Try doing a real job in the real world.

Most of the people that sign up for this job and quit early weren't meant to be here and are usually the ones that everyone knows at roll call are ones we all have to back up because they are going to get their partner hurt because of their cluelessness.

The road of this job as a career is a tough one. You have to put up with idiots blocking your way, forces beyond your control trying to push you off the road, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, and trying to balance a life away from the job so you don't go crazy.

Be proud of what we do people. We do it better than most of the country.

Ok, I will get off my soap box now and go back to my meditation. UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...

12/28/2005 05:46:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The post above was pure truth..You are wise old master!

12/28/2005 08:14:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I made sergeant ( OFF THE TEST! )a few years ago, with 17 years on the job and barely 60 credit hours of college. If my calculations are right, once this new contract kicks in, I'll be making over $90,000 a year with a benefits package that still beats just about every private industry.

You guys who talk about being able to make more money elsewhere are a bit misguided. Not a lot of jobs out there that start near $40,000 with full benefits.

This job sucks sometimes, but overall, I'm actually very thankful for it. It has kept my family well fed and off the unemployment line!

12/28/2005 08:50:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

L.A. probably won't hire the fools here on the job. One look at Chicagos Finest with their beanies and bellies and they will run to the plane laughing.

12/28/2005 09:02:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Re: 9:02 LA is not looking to hire CPD guys, they are out talent seraching the community, stupid. And what better place for LA then the gay pride parade.

12/28/2005 09:19:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm still waiting for the answers to the Detective's test.......

12/28/2005 10:01:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And now the mnedia is making the predictable big deal over this probably due to the skin color of the man who had the knife.

The officers involved are on administrative leave while the press, politicians and the civil rights leaders (all experts on disarming against edged weapons techniques and use of force laws) decide the fate of the officers who had the unfortunate burden of protecting themsleves from serious injury


I'll say it again: the citizens get the police they want.

12/28/2005 10:03:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

IN regards to the N.O. incident. If they only did a seat belt mission?

12/28/2005 10:45:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Did they try filling out a contact card first? Maybe they need TRU.

12/28/2005 11:00:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Will the guy who caught the big bellied cop in bed with his wife please stop posting. That star chasing whore!

12/28/2005 12:04:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tru and seatbelt missions made violent crime go down NATIONWIDE!

12/28/2005 12:06:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chicago is so short of police that, if you have an illegal parking complaint in the 019 or 023 Dist. don't call 911, call SERCO MANAGEMENT SERVICES and a private citizen will come out and write a ticket for you.

12/28/2005 12:33:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Then maybe we should get paid more..but in the end it will not happen & the police dept will be privatized! It will happen.

12/28/2005 01:25:31 AM

Privatization is here, now!

12/28/2005 12:48:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This morning ABC news related that the city has again EXTENDED the deadline for registering for the next CPD exam. Maybe the rumors are true. Any comments..(35th street house-mice/(s), hear anything?)

12/28/2005 01:47:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What white person would want this job now? Yes, the pay is decent but not enough to buy a house in a low crime, honkey 'hood. End residency now!

12/28/2005 02:47:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thirty five years on the job, now retired, concealed carry or not I carry when I want to.

I had a shrink interview me due to some erratic behavior on my part, medical related. When he found out I was ex CPD he said OH,I SEE, that explained everything to him. He stated he had the higest admiration for the police. He then said that the job was not fit for pigs.

One thing guys, my aforementioned medical problem is at $600,000.00 plus, thank god for that insurance, fuck the rest of this noise I got enough problems without runing my family money wise.


And besides I always looked at that star as an open invitation for fun, motorized shopping cart, police discount, fuck with yuppies, let yourself get caught by star chasers, no speed limits, no red lights, shoot at street lights, mother fuck this and that, oh dear God in heaven. I don't miss it, but I sure enjoyed it. lordy, lordy, I wish I could have done forty

12/28/2005 03:00:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

blue poet:

Do you have an obscure point to your rambling drivel...or do you always talk shit?

12/28/2005 04:51:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To: 04:51:04 PM

. . . Just re-read the part where he said he "had a shrink interview me due to some erratic behavior" . . .

That should explain it... He would explain it to you, However he's busy talking to his cats and masterbating right now.

12/28/2005 05:36:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If this department reflects its fine citizens, we are screwed.

Excuse me while I go fuck myself.

12/28/2005 07:43:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey! I guess it's time for a new group of Ambassadors. Kristin and her gang have not done the job. No outreach in the Hispanic Areas as evident by the low numbers. Was this detail only going to be for 6 months? Some of those in there now have been there for 2-3 years and think they are going to retire as Ambassadors. Clean house now and give someone else a chance!

12/28/2005 07:47:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was told that they are so short of dicks at the areas that there will be another class of 50 going in as soon as the sgt's get out of the academy in march. And this still wont help because of retirments and promotions to sgt. We will be short everywhere until the bosses change the manpower index and then we will have the same amount of manpower but they can tell you we are fully staffed. Ask any Lt. who is a watch commander in three differnt districts each week if we need more manpower

12/28/2005 09:05:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

P.S. areas one and two could use 100 more det's between them. but thats life in the underbelly of the city.

12/28/2005 09:07:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

if you eliminated most, if not all, of the specialized units/details (i.e., midnight area gang teams, area saturation teams, the "trap" teams, TRU, most of SOS), then cut other units (narcotics, etc.) and reduced admin units, like crime strategy/accountability, and eliminated the district gang teams (go back to just having district tactical teams only), and then put all of those folks back into beat cars, there might be enough people to handle the calls for service. Having said that, I wonder: 1) has the CPD ever released a Dept-wide audit of personnel, i.e., how many and what personnel are ACTUALLY working where and in what units?; 2) as a general what-if, if the CPD was your "company", would you run it the way it was being run today?

12/28/2005 09:31:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ten years ago I said I would do this job for free. I still feel the same way. My body may not be as young as it used to, but not a day goes by that I dont have a great time. Last year I got a new partner who made me feel young again. Despite CR's, lawsuits and changes in command, I would still do this job for free.

12/28/2005 09:51:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Typical copper! Always wanting the freebie!

12/28/2005 10:01:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If the city were a private company we would be Enron and Daley would be going to jail.

12/28/2005 10:07:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

12/28/2005 09:31:41 PM:

I agree the department can be streamlined more. We do have a lot of PO's that seem to serve very little, if no, function at all. Get all the housemouses and the admin people in cars. They might be lazy but they can still write a report for people. However I disagree with eliminating specialized units like TRU, SOS and Narcotics. They have provided tangible results and the city would be worse off without them, no doubt there.

12/29/2005 01:30:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bring back Gang Crimes. Get rid of TRU, SOS, Saturation teams.

I/F Forever

12/29/2005 07:25:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

BRING BACK THE 6 TH. DISTRICT RAT PATROL, CIRCA 1965!!!!

12/29/2005 09:19:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Figure 300 people (max) per district, including desk, neighborhood rel's, lockup, watch secretaries etc. 25 districts = 7500. And that 300 is way too high as an average, and the lower realistic number still includes those who don't hit the street. There are a LOT of people on this job who aren't accountable the way that beat and RR POs are (i.e., to the radio).

13000 - 7500 = 5500. Or is it 12000 or 11000 on the rolls? Whatever. There are a lot of people who are responsible to no one except their clout and/or politicians.

12/31/2005 11:50:00 PM  

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