HPD: Yet Another Officer Leaving

[Kitty]

Officer taking position with Lamar County School District (http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060717/NEWS01/60717009)

[fuzzis]

Wow. Guess I need to change that question on my math test. ;)

fuzzis

[Seeking Answers]

He's a fine man and officer and they have no idea what experience and talent they lost. I wish the public only knew what type of qualifications and training he walks away with. Kudos to Steve Rosser and the Lamar County School District in bringing him on board. At least the kids of Lamar County will be safer due to this change. :smt038 Good luck to you Burnett!

[wilebill]

Great.

Tell me how a school district can pay more for police than a municipality.

[Seeking Answers]

Obviously smarter than the current HPD administration, I suppose. One way or another, they seem to have it figured out whereas HPD is still struggling to figure out "where'd they all go?"

[Hub a Bubba]

Does HPD stand for Hattiesburg Placement Department?:confused:

[gilgamesh]

There are several more who have told Wynn they are leaving. Two more are going to Lamar and two have volunteered to go back to the military.

[wilebill]

...two have volunteered to go back to the military.
How bad does it have to be when you'd rather go to a war zone than work for HPD?

[Kitty]

I wish the public only knew what type of qualifications and training he walks away with.
Would that be training paid for by the taxpayers of the city of Hattiesburg? While you cannot fault a person for making a professional move if it's in his/her best interest, that's an "investment" the city has lost.

Great.

Tell me how a school district can pay more for police than a municipality.
I may be mistaken, but I think the Lamar County School District has received grant funding to pay for these officers. That doesn't mean the pay is greater than in a municipality, but in many cases grant-funded positions pay better than your average "hard money" positions.

[Bahlk]

and the difference between a war zone and hpd would be???

[Kitty]

and the difference between a war zone and hpd would be???

Would that be a "Wynn" or "no Wynn" situation? :smt102

[wilebill]

Good grief. And Dupree, Wynn, and 3D think this is business as usual? That this happens all the time in racist towns? Would one of them please give me an example of where this has happened where Wynn wasn't the chief?

[Seeking Answers]

Kitty, it's absolutely paid for by the taxpayers - no doubt about it. I wish someone could tally up the grand total of money gone when these officers walk out the door. For Burnett, it's thousands of dollars and many hours of training that'll now go to another agency due to a lack of concern by certain HPD administrators.

[daisy]

I was trying to add to Bahlk's post that over in Iraq we know who our enemy is more often and from what I,ve heard and seen camels are more fair and pleasant than working with Chief Wynn. Camels also are reliable and hard workers.

I regret the turnover of officers but let's not forget the civilian support personnel are also leaving.

[Bahlk]

True, because when you call 911, how is the officer going to get there if a civilian doesn't answer the call

[Seeking Answers]

Bahlk, I get the general impression that folks just don't care about the civilians who leave there. The HA certainly doesn't seem to notice that civilians with many years of experience and loyalty are also leaving there because they can't take it any more. Thanks to both you and Daisy for bringing notice to that..

[Maggie-Doodle]

Daisy, Bahlk & Seeking: THANK YOU for acknowledging the civilian employees who work or have worked at the p.d. They are a vital part of the p.d. Alot of people seem to forget it takes a team of people to do what has to be done there. Each one has a job to do and each ones job is important to the street officer. A breakdown in the civilian personnel doing their jobs could very well cause and officer to loose his life! Just about everything an officer does either comes to a civilian employee first or ends up there after he has done his job....TEAM WORK is a must for the p.d. to be effective! From the way I see it, team work went out the door the day Chief Charlie Sims and Kathy Blackledge walked out the door for the last time! It is a shame but ask any "former" employee and they will tell you the same thing...the p.d. has gone to hell in a handbasket!!!!

[noway]

The 911 operators are the first fireman, policeman & ems personel on the scene..

[Maggie-Doodle]

Noway: you are so right! And THANK GOD we have had such good people in those positions....I just hope the city doesn't keep screwing up and loosing them. I have seen many times that if both the public and most espcially the officer didn't have a good dispatcher, many more lives could have been lost! The dispatcher is the lifeline in many incidents for both the victim and the officer..I AM NOT a dispatcher but I certainly have the utmost respect for them and the job they do...IT IS NOT A JOB FOR ME...if you have a good dispatcher you are certainly blessed!

[daisy]

True, Maggie D. I was selling insurance to a group I have set up in another place and was showing the dispatcher the policy. A call came in for assistance to a lady and her father who had been broken in on and been beaten up. Before I got my brochures she had dispatched and coordinated all kinds of agencies there and arranged for a helicopter. The people lived with scars and damage. I left to go elsewhere and saw the coroner going to the scene just in case. I was mesmirized at how the dispatcher kept everything in play in her head. She was experienced and a natural from practice.

I thought @ how much all the frontline depended on her placing everyone in the best positions for the victims and the officers safety. One mix-up or 2 and it -- who knows?

[OLDLADY]

And the kicker is......Fairley is out running around trying to find out who "whispered" in his ear????

[nooskye]

"In his new job, Burnett will be responsible for narcotics intervention, K-9, crisis planning, site assessments and other duties, Lamar Schools Police Chief Steve Rosser said. He will receive $42,000 annually."

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/NEWS01/607180303/1002

[nooskye]

"In his new job, Burnett will be responsible for narcotics intervention, K-9, crisis planning, site assessments and other duties, Lamar Schools Police Chief Steve Rosser said. He will receive $42,000 annually."

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/NEWS01/607180303/1002


Should I be concerned that my kids have their own police force in the school district they attend???? Or grateful????

[58ford]

By my running Tally counting the ones off at war, we're down to 85.
If I'm off let me know. I've been trying to keep up, but the stampede is throwing me a little.

[Seeking Answers]

Nooskye: Grateful - definitely grateful. Steve Rosser has been doing things for that school district's security that has been needed for years. Those well-trained officers are bringing a new level of security for our kids that will make me feel better everyday while I'm at work. They're simply being pro-active so that in the event that an event occurs, our children will be safe and in the best hands possible. Again, I give kudos to Rosser and the Board for the great personnel decisions they've been making. Like Joel Dunagin said... their loss, our gain.

[nooskye]

I haven't had any dealings with Lamar County Schools since I was in OGHS ... a good 10 years ago ... Even back then ... seeing a cop on campus kinda freaked us (kids) out ... Now my child will be enrolled (with the younger ones following eventually) & I was kinda freaked again LoL ... thank you ... I do feel better now ... :) Any way to ensure their safety (without me feeling like being there with them) is a positive!!!

BTW ... I completely agree with your lil saying at the end of your posts!!

"The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse: You cannot post "Thou shalt not steal", Thou shalt not commit adultery" and "Thou shalt not lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment." George Carlin

Isn't THAT the truth?!?!?! LoL

[Omerto]

"In his new job, Burnett will be responsible for narcotics intervention, K-9, crisis planning, site assessments and other duties, Lamar Schools Police Chief Steve Rosser said. He will receive $42,000 annually."

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/NEWS01/607180303/1002

First, congratulations to Jr. Burnett.

It's always interesting that the Hattiesburg American lists the salary for the officer's new job but fails to mention their current salary with HPD. Burnett is making the same thing at HPD so he will not be making more when he takes this job with Lamar County Schools. I hate the spin the American has tried to put on this fact in the past, making it appear as though they are leaving for better money.

[Maggie-Doodle]

Omerto, I would imagine the HA gives the stories that "spin" because they are told to do so by the "stooges"

[Omerto]

If the HA were doing some indepth investigating, they would ask for a pay scale for the HPD since it is public record. They are always posting the STARTING PAY of officers, but the public needs to see how much the officers leaving are making at HPD and compare it to how much they are accepting in their new position. It isn't the rookies that are leaving but mostly the Sergeants and above. People would be shocked if they saw just how much these Sergeants, Lieutenants, and Captains are making when they resign, often taking lower paying positions. It blows the entire, "The officers need a pay raise" theory out of the water. (Not that I'm saying they do not need a raise, because I believe they do!)

[ynotme297]

still another hpd officer is leaving. officer edward murry is leaving to go to work for a pd in washington d.c. this is another fine officer. hate to see him leave. btw he is black.

[hlra07]

I hate to see Lt Junior Burnett leave HPD. But I agree that the kids in the Lamar County School System will be much safer with his addition to their Police Department. I really can't blame LT Burnett for leaving considering that present circumstances at HPD.

[Omerto]

There is one more thing I would like to add about the pay at Hattiesburg. The Chief and DDD keep saying that pay is the problem, that the officers at HPD only start out at $25,000 but what they aren't telling you is that is the beginning salary of a police recruit. Recruits begin making $25,000 as they enter the police academy. Once they graduate the academy after 13 weeks their salary is increased. Depending on their education, they begin making anywhere from $26,000 to $28,000.

I realize this is still a low salary for an officer to be making in a city the size of Hattiesburg but for them to say an officer starts out at $25,000 isn't completely truthful.

[TheKing]

welcome to the world of PR and spin.

[Kitty]

By my running Tally counting the ones off at war, we're down to 85.
If I'm off let me know. I've been trying to keep up, but the stampede is throwing me a little.

On another thread I posted the number from today's HA...

It's 83.

83 officers.

[BiGCoUnTrY06]

83 Officers Thats It? What Has The City Gone To?

[58ford]

We have got to get a better dont place in this town or we are seriously lookin a t an "Escape From New York" Scenario here.