the pool

[big john]

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061025/NEWS01/610250301/1002&GID=4JL1Rvj98T/AW738dsnkvpAxXL9KfAPmuW7qvunEvrI%3D
So, I guess wynn needs to quit pissing in the part of the pool that has the police,right?

[big john]

As i have said before i am a little slow,but they are saying that our lack of police is due to poaching,do i have this right?

[IGID]

Up until 5 or 6 years ago, HPD was the best PD in the state and that's where everybody wanted to work. What changed 5 or 6 years ago?

It's a crying shame the powers that be can't admit their wrong and fix this and start the road back to where they once were when Charlie Sims was chief.

[wilebill]

Good article, with some very applicable quotes thrown in by Dupree, Wynn, and Sacramento, Calif., Police Chief Albert Najera.

Dupree said: "We recognize there is only a small pool of people we have to pull from, especially in Mississippi where there are only 2.5 to 2.6 million people,"
So when exactly did "we" (I suppose that means him and Wynn) realize this? Before or after they ran everybody off? Either way, if they did recognize it then why weren't steps taken to try to increase retention? This is a failure of leadership to retain people who are in short supply. Simple understandings of the laws of supply and demand would give them a clue about how to handle that situation.

Hattiesburg Police Chief David Wynn said he sees the difficulties when attempting to recruit officers.
"I think the pool is shrinking rapidly and a lot of young people are not interested in law enforcement," he said.
Again, piss poor management. If you know you're going to have a hard time recruiting because there's not a lot to choose from, then you should do everything feasible to retain the people you have. After all, it is his responsibilty to as chief to protect the citizens of the city and the only way you can do that is with an adequate force. He should have been begging the council for more money for the officers and figuring out ways to keep officers. He did neither until he was way behind.

Ward 1 Councilman Kim Bradley said he believes the mayor should have been proactive in retaining officers by changing the HPD leadership when signs of low morale first became evident.
"The job pool is probably very limited, but five years ago we were fully staffed," he said. "I honestly believe the reason he can't recruit is the leadership. It's not going to get any easier until that is addressed."
Bradley's got it figured out. Being a businessman, it makes it easier to understand things like supply and demand. But the mayor and police chief of a relatively large city should also have a clue about those things, or listen to the people who do.

In the forum, DuPree acknowledged concerns over the change in leadership as a reason officers have left but said other factors are at play as well.
"Some of our officers saw better opportunities for pay; quite frankly they went to other venues and some of them are out of law enforcement altogether," he said. "Some of the philosophies of the administration, some of the officers didn't like. That's the way it happens and some are leaving for those kinds of reasons too."
Yeah, well that kinda contradicts what you said below, or you ignored simple logic:

In another question, DuPree said supporting officers is the key to retention.
"Support is a big word. If we can't pay them what we think they deserve, we make sure we recognize them for the things that they do," he said. "Retention goes further than just pay. It's respect, support, it's making sure that officers know you have an open door that they can come talk to you.
"It has a lot to do with the community that you live in, if the community supports the police officers, then you'll make it where hopefully police officers won't want to go anywhere else."
So first you blame the officers because they didn't like the change in leadership, then in another breath say they should be supported. Isn't there a happy medium somewhere in there? Somehow I think this whole quote is talking out of both sides of his mouth and I doubt that there was anything in place to support this statement.

But Najera said the willingness of the leadership to listen to the officers is a key element in retention.
"It's how your employees feel about their job; it's how they feel about the people they work with ... it's very important how they feel they are treated by their superiors," the Sacramento police chief said. "If they are treated fairly; if they feel they have a voice in the organization, it will go a long way toward mitigating other issues, such as pay issues."
I hope he was looking directly at Dupree when he made this statement. This is probably the best piece of advice that Dupree and Wynn could use, if they would actually agree that it's true.

[Maggie-Doodle]

WHO can depend on what Dupree says? One day he says one thing, the next day it is something else! He seems to want it both ways...

I agree with the Sacramento Chief...it is of course nice to get more money but being treated fairly and with respect and listening to someone else thoughts goes along way in the scheme of things. Chief Charlie Sims had that attitude and usually keep a full staff, officers and civilians.

What this administration fails to realize is yes, Sims did loose people from time to time but it wasn't in droves....and those that did leave, did leave for a better job (usually federal). HOWEVER, he was able to recruit other officers to fill the vacacies...Wynn has not had that happen... NOT only can he NOT retain officers, he CAN'T recruit them either...NO ONE WANTS TO WORK FOR AN ASSH***! PLAIN AND SIMPLE! WHY can't the admin understand that? Do they need a diagram?

[IGID]

Do they need a diagram?

Are you going to draw the brown eye? lol

[hbm]

Well we have gone from low pay to other departments taking them to not enough people in the area to recruit from. They must have a think tank working around the clock on new excuses. Also he says recruiting from other departments is wrong but what has he been doing?

[dave06668]

I wonder if dupree,wynn and co. have a basement somewhere,like on the 70's show,and make their decisions in the CIRCLE?

[ACEsmom]

Get rid of Wynn and get someone effective and who cares. Give a sign on bonus to experienced officers that are hired (out of the money from the lack of officers) and give the current officers a retention bonus (if thats even a word) for putting up with the crap. There should be plenty of money to make HPD attractive over other departments if they can get management straight.

[ynotme297]

first, get rid of K.F. then import a chief(hopefully someone from another city,state or maybe Africa) then maybe, just maybe the p.d. will be effictive.

[theObserver]

I can see alot of things, but i can't see the system turning around like it should anytime soon with the current administrations. It appears that it's a vicious cycle that's going to have to run it's course and leave the good folk (like always) to pick up the pieces.