Hello Sisters and Brothers.
Many of you have been calling me and other Local 685 Executive Board members with your concerns about the recent activities going on in the Probation Department. There are so many wheels turning at the same time, so many fires to put out. As we put out one fire, another one starts. Sometimes two or three fires start at the same time in different places…
As an Executive Board, our goal is to put out fires. But putting out fires is a process. It is not always a quick fix, but a process that must be followed. Writing this article is part of the process for me.
As your President, I am being transparent by informing you that your Union is aware of the recent activities, and we are gearing up for battle. This battle will determine our future in this Department.
So many of you are leaving the Department, either by retirement or quitting, because you feel mistreated, disrespected, or unappreciated. Our Executive Board and I truly understand.
Remember when everything was good in the Field and super bad in the Halls? DSOs were being held over for 30+ hours, being assaulted just about every day by youth. Remember that? Now the Field is under attack. Field deputies are being deployed all over the place. Seems unfair right? Well, we are going to figure this out together.
Figuring this out together will include the Chief and his team, myself, and my team, and you and your co-workers. All of us are going to have to work this out together. Many of you are asking questions we don’t yet have answers to.
However, our Union will be meeting as an Executive Board, and we will meet with our lawyers and the Department next week. We will work on getting answers, and once we have answers, we will get those answers to you.
I will say this – some answers you may or may not like. But we will provide you with answers. As with deployment, being sent home using your own time, working in the Halls on a rotation – these are the questions we need and will get clarification from the Department.
There are many versions of this out there, but we need to hear it from the Chief himself. After that, this Union will provide you with answers and explanations. That you can count on.
The big question is this: What are we going to do about it? That will be discussed between you, the Executive Board, the Chief and his team, and other Unions.
Something has to give! We have to get this right. I understand that people’s lives are being interrupted. This is not fair, and something has to be done about it. As a Union we will explore all of our options.
If you have specific questions that you want answered from the Chief, flood him with emails just like you do me. Do him the same way. FLOOD HIM WITH EMAILS.
Thought For the Day: This Too Shall Pass.