Some things are so predictable they may make you yawn. For instance, the deepening deterioration of certain states whose “progressive” governance is progressively pitiful, imperiling millions of citizens by moronically handing keys to the city to bona fide criminals who prey on innocents.
As James Baldwin said, “Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”
The innocents have had enough of the garbage “leadership” and seek greener pastures. States welcoming transplanters from afar are far more in need of public safety assets to optimally serve and safeguard the influx of newcomers. This includes nationally known businesses opting out of Dodge to be merchants elsewhere.
Coverage by WFLA Tampa reporter Staci DiSilva expounded on the Tampa Bay region’s law enforcement agencies handling the recent burgeon in new residents relocating from progressive-oriented states.
The gobs of border-crossers —the domestic kind, although the other exacerbates the problem, too— has somewhat surprisingly hastened the need for more cops so they don’t fall into the same pit created by the depleting states.
Not pointing fingers whatsoever. Who could possibly enumerate with any precision how many fed-up folks would physically pack up and give meteoric rise to U-Haul stock?
In comparison to the crap-shoot deluge of transplanters is the census recorded by law enforcement academies taking roll call every training day (the possibility of any change in the roster of police cadets overnight is infinitesimal), giving rise to a now-evident lopsided ratio of citizens:cops.
The conglomerate area and their respective landmarks that we are referring to consist of these Florida counties: Pinellas (St. Pete), Hillsborough (Tampa), Orange (Orlando), Osceola (Kissimmee), Polk (Lakeland), and Volusia (Daytona Beach).
What I mean is that these local government leaders and municipality figureheads saw what was coming, they just underestimated the explosion from over there to their respective landscape.
We’ve been reporting on academy classes in certain locales as robust, with some recently breaking historical records of cadets graduating, jutting a hand, and mesmerizingly scrutinizing their proverbial pinning. It’s a moment never forgotten!
(Photo courtesy of the Sarasota Police Department.)
The National Police Association (NPA) reported that LEOs who have been defunded, devalued, denigrated, demoralized, and destined for change…found new welcoming homes in police-supporting states. Even this number is insufficient to properly protect and serve the droves that came (still pour in) for similar reasons.
Although we don’t have updated census numbers, most of the reports from media outlets cite both Florida and Texas as huge gainers of the exodus flow of folks who fled states because they just had enough of Jello-strong elected officials skilled at whipping out stupid laws and playing blind when their legislation amounts to a criminal jamboree, making victims rather demoralized.
As our friends at Relentless Defender put it, “The most important factor in any vote you make should always be for the safety of your family.”
With that, Ms. DiSilva’s report concentrated on Polk County, Florida law enforcement figureheads sounding the alarm of scoring enough sworn strength to harness the safety and security factors people desire and deserve.
Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor’s clarion call was analogous to a professional baseball team’s organizational chart and scouting credo, specifying a diversity of talent, with each member bringing special skills to the justice table. Chief Taylor underscored how his team of cops may be missing a few key players.
(Photo courtesy of the Lakeland Police Department.)
That is a quintessential pitch for more cops of manifold dynamics to comprise a formidable law enforcement agency to optimally serve its citizens.
Per DiSilva, Chief Taylor had a powwow with Lakeland city commissioners, putting in their ears that his agency needs about 35 additional officers before 2030 or so to keep up with the burgeon of unprecedented population bloat.
Elbow to elbow with Chief Taylor is Brian Rewis, Director of Community & Economic Development for Lakeland, who echoed the “unprecedented” increase, already gauging an excess of projections for 2030 census.
Yikes!
According to Mr. Rewis, Lakeland’s growth rate has hampered the municipality’s infrastructure and its capacity to stay ahead of the ball.
Indeed! I reside in a county that neighbors Polk County, and my eyes on the road, when driving to and fro destinations, observe a massive spike in motorists (and accompanying aggressive driving behaviors) resulting in omnipresent traffic congestion, impatient operators, and concomitant collisions. That means any new hires of cops in Florida will be knee-deep in crash investigations.
The police mission is the same; it’s the staffing that becomes an issue. Despite lateral transfer cops relocating from other states, the overall safety of citizens and LEOs is dubious.
Chief Taylor harped on his doctrine of ensuring a safe community as the most crucial feature…and that means more cops to solidify that goal, contending how police work does not make millionaires, free of danger.
His integrity and transparency are noted.
The starting salary for a Lakeland police officer is roughly $60,000. That is a bit more than what the NYPD pays its cops, and perhaps why Chief Taylor’s recruiters have been visiting the Big Apple job fairs and lightening some of its hiring restrictions such as a tattoo policy (not lowering physical standards, only softening aesthetic prohibitions).
Incidentally, the city of Lakeland is in Polk County, where straight-talking Sheriff Grady Judd tries to hold it down with what he’s got. In his organically candid way, Sheriff Judd also cites the need for more deputies to serve the growing population in Polk County’s roughly 1,875 square miles.
In his deadpan way, Sheriff Judd cited how putting 100,000 new residents in his county without factoring in more LEOs is counterintuitive: “Hello…did you hear me?”
Sheriff Judd requested 125 new deputies in 2024 due to the population explosion, organic retirements, a covenant to provide school resource deputies at public and private educational campuses, and mutual aid pacts forged with the county’s municipalities.
Previously reported by the NPA is the bolstering of the law enforcement community throughout the Sunshine State, with Governor Ron DeSantis unhesitatingly providing bonuses to Florida’s cops and generously offering incentives to lateral transfers (sworn cops from other states like California and New York) such as relocation expenses and home-buying initiatives known as the Hometown Heroes program.
Is it enough? Should Florida’s governance sweeten the pot even more to attract more people to the police profession? Seems rhetorical.
https://youtu.be/Fj-BM9_FGx0?si=WLtGO-B3kl_E-1My
As Sheriff Judd noted in that brief footage, many other law enforcement agencies in Tampa Bay are experiencing the same increase in population while trying to harvest LEOs to sustain communities and safeguard everyone, suggesting the competitive nature of swearing in new cops from a limited pool of candidates.
Years ago, it was the opposite, whereby law enforcement agencies always had a swell of applied prospects to vet and select the finest, leaving many on the waiting list for the next hiring round. Nowadays, the script has flipped.
This material you are reading is due to substantive reasoning. The FBI ordinarily sets formulas for the generally “safe” ratio of cops:citizens in a given jurisdiction in America. It is a basic framework to help police entities to meet muster. (NPA’s article about launching a law enforcement academy includes more readiness to meet growth and needs.)
Again, though, projections are nothing more than guesses where transplants are going to settle. Logically, it follows…that the necessitation of more cops is engendered once newcomers declare residency in any given locale. It is like playing catch-up. It is no one’s fault…but it is concerning. It is the squads of LEOs already serving who hold down the fort while awaiting reinforcements from the pool of pickings shared by multiple agencies responsible for public safety.
It is not shocking that the policing profession is rife with unknowns, some deadly, and the cops we do have on hand bravely go out and attempt to size up situations and conquer adversities as best possible. Resources are included in this mix of what-ifs…
As Lakeland Chief Taylor astutely noted, myriad law enforcement agency executives are staring at robust residents rooting in Florida, and that the ratio of citizens-to-cops is a difficult equation when the pool of candidates is not near the brim.