Whats Going On With The Scranton Police Force ? (Columbia: neighborhood, university)

[doc1]

Originally Posted by 00mateo21

in reply to "theemmisary",
i live in the town of rutherford and its rediculous. The town was granted a 500,000 dollar grant for improvements, new equipment, the school board etc and it was used to pay the unused sick time of the retired police chief. Also the head captain who was "asked" (cough forced cough) to retire had 120,000 dollars in unused sick time. Between the two, the cheif and captain, they were paid in a lump sum almost all of the 500,000 dollar grant. In addition the town created a brand new title and position to whom, yup you guessed it, the retired police cheif was appointed. So all in all he was paid 311,000 lump sum, a yearly pension of 121,000, and now has a job with the town making 85,000 a year. Not to mention this position was created within weeks before the old mayor was removed and the new mayor appointed. In addition the 120,000 lump sum to the captain. The 500,000 state grant is basically gone.

It's crap like that makes NJ a taxpayer's nightmare. The grip of govt worker's unions are stangling this state.

[GREGGO72]

guys in nyc the top salary for a police officer 59,000. The average house in NYC costs betwwen 300,000 and 500,000. $40,000 isnt that bad when you can buy a house in city for between 120 to 140,000. My father-in law and 3 three brother-in laws are nyc police officers. NYPD has been without a contract for 4 years.. i understand what you guys are saying but you really can not compare scranton to NYC. The cops here are just trying to make it to retirement so they can MOVE out of nyc because they cant afford to live in the city anymore..and NYC cops have a residency requirement they HAVE to live in ny. I really shouldnt butt my nose in! i just bought a house in scranton and will not offically move in until July 2008!!

[Invisibleman]

I will step up to bat and make a statement because I have firsthand knowledge of what is going on and why guys are leaving. Because we are in active battle with the administration I will not provide my name as I do not want to undermine the efforts of our union but I have been both a Scranton Police Officer and a part time cop prior to joining the city. The one post was referring to part time police officers wages and that individual is correct they are low in this area but that has nothing to do with Scranton because they do not employ part time officers. Our gripe isn't solely about raises as the news papers would have you believe it has to do with minimum manning and the protection of the citizens as well as our officers. We used to have a clause that stated that the city would have no fewer than 12 officers on the road per shift and now that they have enacted the recovery plan they made it so there are only 12 police officers on total which means that the desk officer, wagon officer, highway unit, and supervisors (who generally don't take calls) count toward that number. In other words there may only be four police officers taking calls on a bust shift like 3-11pm when the city received 2/3rds of the calls annually.
Drive around the city and count how many cops you see now then compare that to a few months ago. A man was stabbed a few days ago right near Mulberry Street on a high traffic area that normally would have a high police presence. Mayor Daugherty needs to be removed because he is incompetent. I know all of the officers who left and they were an asset to the city and they made the city a safer place. Remember this, we can't strike, we can't sue our employer, and we have to take everything that is thrown at us by both the administration and the evil characters that exist in this city. The only thing we can do it submit a grievance which in many cases does nothing. I would ask that you ignore the posts pertaining to NYC police officers because I know many of them too and they can tell you that a bad call is a bad call. Just because we don't have as many murders doesn't mean we don't have a high level of violent crime annually.

The records pertaining to the 74,000 calls a year we get and the nature of those calls is public knowledge so I would ask that you look at those records before making statements as to the easiness of our jobs. I also want to thank anyone on this post that recognizes that we are not greedy we are just trying to stay alive while keeping people safe. Most of the officers I work with really do care and they would place themselves in harm’s way for anyone who needed it. Also remember that we don't get holidays off so when you are eating your turkey on thanksgiving we are stuck working in a mostly thankless job in which people hate you until they need you.

[Summering]

Beautiful posting Iman........
Your town needs to give you all a decent, living wage. They need to hire more officers to keep your town safe.
Your jobs are definately not easy in the least.
I've felt the loss of a loved ones company on those special holidays, their children have too. You all work very hard, and I know its appreciated by most.
If there could be a molded police force.......I'd clone Denville, NJ as an example of how a town police force should work. Even though...........I got my only ticket from a Denville officer

[weluvpa]

Our town needs to get rid of Doherty so that our officers can go back to doing what they love and what they do best......Protecting the people of Scranton.

During the floods the only and I mean the only people that came down to help were OFF-Duty police officers and they came because they wanted to.

NO city officals and the fire dept and SPD were ORDERED NOT TO ENTER THE FLOOD ZONE, just the off-duty leo's came.

You guys deserve better and the people know where you are and what you are up against and we support you. There are those here and there that will repeat everything that the Times reports and they take as a the holy grail but for the most part the people understand.

Stand your ground, fight for a better contract and hold out until either you get it or we get rid of Doherty.

[SteelCityRising]

Dan, if Mayor Doherty is re-elected next year do you plan to relocate out of the city?

[YouBeACop]

Originally Posted by PECKVILLE

Let Them Leave And Go To Nyc And See How Tough It Is Out There .. When Was The Last Time We Had A Really Big Crime Scene..i Guess They Think They Should Get As Much As Nyc... Also I Think The Outlying Areas Like Dc And Blakely Are Redicoulous In What They Pay There Officers..and The Poor Part Time Officers Get Minimum Wage

Okay so your saying they dont have a hard job here? In Scranton of all places? Are you a cop? Did you ever see the work that they actually have to do that the Times leaves out? All the accidents, mentals, drunks, bums, addicts? Would you like me to recall a "Big Crime Scene"? What about the incident of the young man who murdered his Girlfreinds babys father and her two brothers over by valley view? or the incidents of suicidals? Maybe the case where that woman was shot for wielding a knife?
Its not fair as I sit here as a citizen for you to say that any cop doesnt have it hard. They carry guns for reasons because anything can happen. Your criticizing officers everywhere. And who do you think your gonna call if you have a problem? The police.

[toobusytoday]

The last post on this thread is September 2008. Kind of late to be jumping into an argument isn't it?

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

Well actually the issue with Scranton Police is ongoing. There was an article in the Student Aquainas regarding Scranton Police roughing up students. They held a forum with the University of Scranton Public Safety Director and members of the Scranton Police force.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by BLUEDIAMOND64

Well actually the issue with Scranton Police is ongoing. There was an article in the Student Aquainas regarding Scranton Police roughing up students. They held a forum with the University of Scranton Public Safety Director and members of the Scranton Police force.

I'm not sure I would trust the statements of college students on this issue. Its probably the drunken rowdies who are just mad that the police busted them for their drunken hooliganism. Partying college students have little regard for how their behavior affects others in the neighborhood. And then they blame the "big bad police" for actually putting a stop to their behavior.