Ladies and Gentlemen. The last time you heard from the Association by way of a newsletter was in September and Chief Wray had just been promoted. At that time, Chief Wray said he wasn't entirely sold on going away from the 4/4. Later in a meeting, Chief Wray made mention of the 4 on/ 4 off with 4 reporting times, 4 districts and rotating shifts. He also stated that Captain Hartley was in the process of compiling schedule "models" that Command staff would choose 4 or 5 from and then those 4 or 5 would be presented to a "schedule committee" to offer input. He stated the reason he was leaning toward rotating shifts was to "spread around the experienced officers, special team members, officers with language skills and to a lesser degree, females." He stated he was concerned with the lack of experience on night shift due to most new rookies being put on nights.
So in mid to late August, I started talking to officers and compiling my own info. I looked at the number of officers in the field with 4 plus years and those with 10 plus years. I also looked at the percentage of those officers compared to each specific shift. I then looked at the number of permanent or near permanent shift non- field officers with 4 plus and 10 plus years. Then I looked at the percentage of those officers as compared to field officers.
Here's what I found. Mind you this was all based on August 2003 numbers.
55%of POI's and POII's assigned to the field have 4 or more years of experience
19% of POII's assigned to the field have 10 or more years of experience
95% of the POI's and POII's assigned to specialized units have 4 or more years of service
60% of POII's assigned to specialized units have 10 or more years of service
70% of the 10yrs+ field officers are on days shift.
1st shift has 42% of the field officers with 4yrs+ experience
2nd shift has 32% of the field officers with 4yrs+ experience
3rd shift has 26% of the field officers with 4yrs+ experience
Rotating shifts will impact the lives of 249 field personnel or 49% of the Department.
I personally talked to nearly 50 field officers and asked them "Do you want to rotate shifts?" The first thing I heard was "I'm glad you asked." The next thing I heard was, "You got a minute?" Then I got unloaded on. No sniveling here. Some were direct but others said, "What does it matter?" When they were give a clear-cut choice, either yes or no, more than 90% said no.
With all this in hand, I again went to see Chief Wray. Again he stated he was leaning toward the 4 on/ 4 off, 4 districts, 4 reporting times with rotating shifts. No determination had been on the length of each rotation cycle.
I presented all this to him as well as spoke of the reasons officers were against rotating such as educational opportunities, civic duty within the community, child care and negative health issues.
I showed Chief Wray that according to the above stats, a great majority of officers with 10 or more years of experience had chosen to migrate to day shift or specialized units with stabilized schedules. Most have day shift hours. Specialized units meaning SRO's, CID, SID, Warrant Squad, Crash Reconstruction, PSD, CITE Teams, Staff Inspections, Walking Squad, Traffic Enforcement, CRO's, LEAD Teams, PNRC, CAT Teams and V/N.
I told Chief Wray that his goal of spreading around experienced officers to all shifts could be achieved with other means.
I offered to him a solution to the rookies not having the opportunity to work with experienced officers. I said rookies could be placed on days for 6 months and nights for 6 months following their completion of field training. Rookies would not have an established routine as of yet as compared to the "experienced" officers. Following the year of rotation, they could be permanently assigned.
I stated to Chief Wray that concerning spreading around special team members, I believed most Team members would understand the need to have Team members on all shifts.
Concerning education, Chief Wray pointed out that during his working the old 5/ 3 schedule, he had earned his degree from UNCG. He stated on several occasions he had taken time off to attend classes. He stated officers might have to do so as well.
Chief Wray stated the childcare issues were being looked at.
Without throwing it in his face, I reminded Chief Wray of his statements during his swearing in speech and how he spoke of a veteran officer who had been a baseball coach for 23 years. I told him that the officer had that opportunity because he had benefited from working a near permanent shift during that time. I told Chief that if he implemented rotating shifts, that veteran officer would have to choose. He/ she would rotate and not be able to coach baseball. Or, he/ she would rotate and have to take time off to coach. Or, he/ she would leave the field for a more permanent job, and in doing so take the experience away from the field. Or, he/ she would leave the Department altogether. I told the Chief that any outcome would be a disservice to the Department. I told him I knew of five officers/ coaches who would be affected by rotation.
I also told him that I had talked to several spouses of officers and got their input as well. All were against rotating shifts.
I pointed out that going to rotating shifts would be against the desires of the majority of the 261 field officers and would be an undesirable change for over half of the officers in the Department. I told him it wasn't just the veterans who didn't want to rotate. It was the rookies on night shift, as well, who enjoyed policing on night shift.
I had a 10-minute speech on this and I bet I went over it 5 times. I tried to present the field officer's views to Chief Wray. I honestly believe the decision had already been made.
I am also reminded that while Chief White was here, I had heard rumors of GPD Admin looking at different schedules. I approached Chief White and asked where I could get my hands on various schedules and their impact on manpower. Chief White referred me to the IACP (International Associations of Chiefs of Police) and PERF (Police Executive Research Forum) websites. Chief White also referred me to Chief Stafford and Captain Hartley. Neither Chief Stafford and Captain Hartley had schedules and both, as well, referred me to the websites.
But in my conversation with Captain Hartley, he stated that permanent shifts only benefited day shift officers. He explained that 2nd and 3rd shift officers adjusted back to "normal" hours on their off days, while 1st shift officers didn't need to adjust. I told him those 2nd and 3rd shift officers weren't complaining about having to adjust. In fact, some worked 2nd and 3rd off duty work on their off days. 1st shift officers also adjust. I don't know of any who wake up at 0430hrs on their off days, unless they have early off duty work scheduled. The plans were already laid.
Officers who were put on the "schedule input committee" stated it was understood that they were not there to discuss rotating, but how frequent and how many off days they wanted.
I'm not completely a naysayer. I believe there will be some officers who will take to the rotating shifts. Heck, all may like it once they are on it. I just don't see the reasoning behind fixing something that isn't broken. Is the present schedule perfect? No! But fix the small problems and listen to the majority of officers.
We are doing a full survey of all officers to gather the data should we need it at later time. Please, complete them and hold onto them. I will hit your lineup to retrieve them. No name please.
On to the next topic. The Greensboro City Council. The GPOA has tried to present officer's concerns first to the Council by way of the City Manager. We were ignored.
Then, we tried to present officer's concerns to the Council by way of select Council members. Again, we were ignored. Then we tried to present officer's concerns to Council by way of letters to Council members. Again ignored. So, now comes our next step. We take officer's concerns to the public we serve, by way of the news media, during a City Council meeting.
Yep, the GPOA is organizing a time when we can go to the City Council. Tuesday January 20th, 2004. I, along with anyone else who wishes to speak, will confront the City Council about low raises, manpower shortages, current pay, career tracks, benefits and workman's comp issues/ Key Risk/ Dr. Daub.
What I need from all GPOA members and anyone else who wishes to join us, is to mark your calendars for Tuesday January 20th, 2004 @1730hrs. Please show up on the plaza level. Following a brief rally there, we will meet with the media and we'll go into the council chambers. Because the City Manager and Council have refused to put us on the Council's agenda, we will have to wait till the speakers from the floor time. It may be 2100hrs or whenever before we speak. But I promise you, we will speak and the citizens of Greensboro will hear us. Numbers will make a difference.
We're putting this out early so you won't sign up for off duty work on Tuesday January 20th, 2004 @1730hrs. The GPOA really needs you to turn out. I know many of you depend on off duty work, but imagine the impact of officers jamming the council chambers. It has the chance of effecting more than one lost day of off duty work. We need day shift officers to stay over. We need third shift officers to come in early. We need all off duty officers to turn out. If you live outside Greensboro, make a commitment to come in and join us.
I know the field may be working differently on Tuesday January 20th, 2004 than when you read this. But as it presently stands, Tuesday January 20th, 2004 is ABC rotation's 1st day on. DEF's 1st day off. Put it on a sticky note, write it on your calendar, do what you have to do to remind yourself. The GPOA needs you. We have the membership to make a difference. We just need to show our strength. We can make an impact.
Also, I have been hearing rumors of limiting the hours of off duty work. I have not heard anything concrete, just rumors.
Lastly, our Shop with a Cop program will be on Saturday December 13th, 2003 at TARGET on Lawndale Dr. beginning at 0830hrs. Please come out for the time of your Christmas season. It's really uplifting. All you have to do is walk around and help the kids pick out gifts. It's great.
Take care of yourself. No one else will. Until next time.