Agencies "wasting" money....

[441A]

The thread about cheap agencies made me think just how much better I have it then others. Also made me think of how wasteful we are. Of course, Its my opinion of waste but my agency so far this year has wasted money on....

Cars- The gas prices the last couple years have had the admin recommending less idling, and the threat of not being able to replace cars has guys being alot more gentle with our cars, as they no longer are being looked at as throw away items. So what does the Admin do? Replace cars that dont need replacing, and we have 15 BRAND NEW cars sitting in the lot that ARE NOT USED. We have anywhere from 15-20 other used cars in the lot not being used at any given time also.

Equipment- We have laptops that are still in the box, along with radios, lightbars and all sorts of things. Waiting on cars we havent bought yet. They did this last year also, and you know what? They sold it, un-opened at way below cost to other police agencies because when it came time to install it, they wanted bigger and better. Lightbars are thrown out, not serviced most times. 2 year old cars get brand new light bars, then 6 months down the road when the car is replaced, the light bar is thrown out. They have upgraded the number of pods on the light bar, to the point where it is getting pretty useless.

There is MUCH more to this, but im just curious to see if anyone else is working for an agency that seems to be ignoring this economic downturn. And dont get me wrong. I LOVE MY AGENCY, and love the great equipment. But I also believe there is a such thing as over doing it, and we may later be regretting our being so wasteful.

[creolecop]

My dept gives us everything we need. I'm very happy with how we are supplied and love my dept. However, I did recently bring one thing to light that I thought was pretty wasteful.

When you're below the rank of corporal you wear the sheriff Office patch on your shirt and a tab on your sleeves under the dept patch that signifies where you work in the dept. Corrections have a tab that says corrections, patrol says enforcement, investigations says investigations. When you iron your shirts or send them to the cleaners they have that glue like substance under the patches that melt on to the shirt. The Rank of corporal and Sgt have the 2 strip and 3 strip patches that go under the dept patch. Plus we wear that rank insignia on our collars. So not long ago I received my corporal rank which meant I had to change my enforcement tab to corporal stripes. Well I had just received 3 brand new uniforms tops and bottoms 6mo prior. So I'm thinking there is no way they are going to buy me new shirts but I will pay for them because I don't want that ugly glue situation on my sleeves when they remove the tab and replace them with the stripes (you would still be able to see the glue and old tab ghosting). I called supply to see about getting the patches to make my purchases cheaper on me and they kind of got ****ed a little and said quote, "thats not how we do things here, you'll have a voucher for everything, give me a couple of days".

2 days later I had vouchers for 3 brand new uniforms all because I was getting corporal stripes. That brought the total number of new uniforms issued in 2009 to 7 or 8 (lost count).

I made the suggestion of why not keep all of us with our dept patch, division tabs and just put the rank on the collar since we use pin on anyways. That would save them from buying uniforms everytime someone gets promoted when they could have just received uniforms prior to getting promoted like I did. There is no sense in having rank on the sleeve AND on the collar. Putting it just on the collar would save alot of money there. Also because the division tabs are all the same length and style if you go from corrections to patrol or patrol to investigations changing your tab wouldn't cause a mess on the shirt sleeve because it would fit exactly where the old tab was placed.

[ryker]

My budget minded agency loves the big city wasteful agencies. We buy are car used from big agencies that wrecked them and never returned them to service. Placed them in storage. So they are old and wrecked but very low mileage and dirt cheap to buy. In that aspect I say it was smart for my department. Yet we outfit them with old lights and junk equipment.

-siren speaker don't work - no big deal just use your horn.

-alley lights don't work- no big deal just use your flashlight.. lol

[mikeymedic]

Hey....got any contact info? we'll take your "junk" we need anything we can get.

[M-11]

My dept gives us everything we need. I'm very happy with how we are supplied and love my dept. However, I did recently bring one thing to light that I thought was pretty wasteful.

When you're below the rank of corporal you wear the sheriff Office patch on your shirt and a tab on your sleeves under the dept patch that signifies where you work in the dept. Corrections have a tab that says corrections, patrol says enforcement, investigations says investigations. When you iron your shirts or send them to the cleaners they have that glue like substance under the patches that melt on to the shirt. The Rank of corporal and Sgt have the 2 strip and 3 strip patches that go under the dept patch. Plus we wear that rank insignia on our collars. So not long ago I received my corporal rank which meant I had to change my enforcement tab to corporal stripes. Well I had just received 3 brand new uniforms tops and bottoms 6mo prior. So I'm thinking there is no way they are going to buy me new shirts but I will pay for them because I don't want that ugly glue situation on my sleeves when they remove the tab and replace them with the stripes (you would still be able to see the glue and old tab ghosting). I called supply to see about getting the patches to make my purchases cheaper on me and they kind of got ****ed a little and said quote, "thats not how we do things here, you'll have a voucher for everything, give me a couple of days".

2 days later I had vouchers for 3 brand new uniforms all because I was getting corporal stripes. That brought the total number of new uniforms issued in 2009 to 7 or 8 (lost count).

I made the suggestion of why not keep all of us with our dept patch, division tabs and just put the rank on the collar since we use pin on anyways. That would save them from buying uniforms everytime someone gets promoted when they could have just received uniforms prior to getting promoted like I did. There is no sense in having rank on the sleeve AND on the collar. Putting it just on the collar would save alot of money there. Also because the division tabs are all the same length and style if you go from corrections to patrol or patrol to investigations changing your tab wouldn't cause a mess on the shirt sleeve because it would fit exactly where the old tab was placed.

I always iron my stripes onto a pice of old uniform fabric, cut them out and leave the fabric on as a backing to keep the glue off my sleeves when I sew the stripes on.

M-11

[StudChris]

A while back our agency outer vest carriers from all officers. Instead of either A) selling them to the officers or B)Selling them to someone else to make some money, they sit in a box in evidence.

[In It To Win It]

The thread about cheap agencies made me think just how much better I have it then others. Also made me think of how wasteful we are. Of course, Its my opinion of waste but my agency so far this year has wasted money on....

Cars- The gas prices the last couple years have had the admin recommending less idling, and the threat of not being able to replace cars has guys being alot more gentle with our cars, as they no longer are being looked at as throw away items. So what does the Admin do? Replace cars that dont need replacing, and we have 15 BRAND NEW cars sitting in the lot that ARE NOT USED. We have anywhere from 15-20 other used cars in the lot not being used at any given time also.

Equipment- We have laptops that are still in the box, along with radios, lightbars and all sorts of things. Waiting on cars we havent bought yet. They did this last year also, and you know what? They sold it, un-opened at way below cost to other police agencies because when it came time to install it, they wanted bigger and better. Lightbars are thrown out, not serviced most times. 2 year old cars get brand new light bars, then 6 months down the road when the car is replaced, the light bar is thrown out. They have upgraded the number of pods on the light bar, to the point where it is getting pretty useless.

There is MUCH more to this, but im just curious to see if anyone else is working for an agency that seems to be ignoring this economic downturn. And dont get me wrong. I LOVE MY AGENCY, and love the great equipment. But I also believe there is a such thing as over doing it, and we may later be regretting our being so wasteful.

I know the fed gov't is worse than this, as well as other state agencies, but WOW!!

[PhilipCal]

The thread about cheap agencies made me think just how much better I have it then others. Also made me think of how wasteful we are. Of course, Its my opinion of waste but my agency so far this year has wasted money on....

Cars- The gas prices the last couple years have had the admin recommending less idling, and the threat of not being able to replace cars has guys being alot more gentle with our cars, as they no longer are being looked at as throw away items. So what does the Admin do? Replace cars that dont need replacing, and we have 15 BRAND NEW cars sitting in the lot that ARE NOT USED. We have anywhere from 15-20 other used cars in the lot not being used at any given time also.

Equipment- We have laptops that are still in the box, along with radios, lightbars and all sorts of things. Waiting on cars we havent bought yet. They did this last year also, and you know what? They sold it, un-opened at way below cost to other police agencies because when it came time to install it, they wanted bigger and better. Lightbars are thrown out, not serviced most times. 2 year old cars get brand new light bars, then 6 months down the road when the car is replaced, the light bar is thrown out. They have upgraded the number of pods on the light bar, to the point where it is getting pretty useless.

There is MUCH more to this, but im just curious to see if anyone else is working for an agency that seems to be ignoring this economic downturn. And dont get me wrong. I LOVE MY AGENCY, and love the great equipment. But I also believe there is a such thing as over doing it, and we may later be regretting our being so wasteful.

What some folks might call waste, others would describe as good planning, positive asset management, whatever you want to call it. My thought is, enjoy the bounty, as inefficient as it's management might seem. There are plenty of agencies out there, doing without, or really struggling. Just my .02

[NYCTNT]

Waste...

A certain agency that I know of,

Still uses TYPEWRITERS for most of our forms. The missing persons form is TYPED! You would think it would be ONLINE so the missing persons detectives can get it ASAP.

Instead everything is mostly on paper, waste of paper.

Vouchers are typed, instead of being online.

No 24/7 ADA's who will write up our cases and be done with.

[PhilipCal]

Shortly before I retired (2005) my Unit Commander took up every typewriter we had, and sent them to the State Surplus Lot. That was his way of insuring that all of us began doing our reports, requisitions, etc, on line. The move was very effective. Not knocking anyone's agency, but it's hard to believe reports are still being handwritten or typed.

[NYCTNT]

YEP!

It would save the city millions a year in just paper and speeding things up so the resources(cops) can go back into the field and work.

[ateamer]

2 days later I had vouchers for 3 brand new uniforms all because I was getting corporal stripes. That brought the total number of new uniforms issued in 2009 to 7 or 8 (lost count).

Our fulltime FTOs wear corporal stripes on their sleeves, and alternate FTOs wear collar brass when they have a trainee. Years ago, before FTOs were exempt from rotation into court security, my buddy was transferred from patrol to courts. He showed up on his first day in the courthouse wearing his corporal stripes. The sergeant told him that since he was no longer an FTO, he couldn't wear the stripes. The next day, he showed up sans stripes, but with a darker spot on the tan sleeve where the stripes had been. Sarge tells him to see the lieutenant and get chits for new shirts that look decent. The office winds up buying him three short sleeve, three long sleeve and a new Blauer Gore-Tex jacket, and a new Ike jacket (even though he'd probably never worn the Ike jacket in his career).

The day the bill came from the uniform shop, the memo came out that FTOs would no longer have sleeve stripes - collar brass only - when they got shirts replaced. That policy stayed in place for the next seven or eight years.

[ateamer]

We also had an old-timer in courts who was at the end of his career and looking at retirement. One winter day as he was walking in the unheated courthouse hallway, the sergeant saw that he was still wearing the old nylon Tuffy jacket, which had been replaced by the Gore-Tex/Thinsulate Blauer jacket years earlier. The sarge told him that he needed to have the current style jacket, and to get it replaced. The deputy protested, said he was retiring in six months and wore his jacket only once or twice a year. The sarge insisted.

When the deputy picked up his jacket at the uniform shop, he told him them to not sew on the patches, as he'd have it done later on his own. Yep - the county bought him a retirement gift: a brand new Gore-Tex fishing jacket!

[GreenLine]

Cars- The gas prices the last couple years have had the admin recommending less idling, and the threat of not being able to replace cars has guys being alot more gentle with our cars, as they no longer are being looked at as throw away items. So what does the Admin do? Replace cars that dont need replacing, and we have 15 BRAND NEW cars sitting in the lot that ARE NOT USED. We have anywhere from 15-20 other used cars in the lot not being used at any given time also.

Equipment- We have laptops that are still in the box, along with radios, lightbars and all sorts of things. Waiting on cars we havent bought yet. They did this last year also, and you know what? They sold it, un-opened at way below cost to other police agencies because when it came time to install it, they wanted bigger and better. Lightbars are thrown out, not serviced most times. 2 year old cars get brand new light bars, then 6 months down the road when the car is replaced, the light bar is thrown out. They have upgraded the number of pods on the light bar, to the point where it is getting pretty useless.

Sounds like you have someone in your agency who is very skilled at writing requests for grants and they're "stocking up." If so, that's actually pretty smart because you never know when the federal money will dry up.

Though I think that's often very prudent, the other side to that story can be wasteful. For example, I know of a local agency near my last duty station that has 4 full-time officers and 4 reserve officers. After 9/11 and Katrina, they ended up with a "mobile command post" (an RV with more electronics than the space shuttle), a surveillance van, 3 new SUV's to 'replace' the other ones that were still pretty new, new laptops AND desktops (even though no one has "desks" to put 'em on), and enough hazmat gear to assault a chemical weapons plant. All courtesy of the federal government. Normally I wouldn't begrudge ANYONE getting some new gear, but when my agency can't even afford to replace a set of tires, that kinda chaps my hind parts.

Biggest wastes I see in the feds is the infamous "year end" money that gets wasted. Every September, someone figures out how much of the fiscal years' budget money we have left and devises some creative ways to get rid of it before October 1st, with the idea being that if you have money left over, you have to give it back. You also won't be able to justify any more money in the future because you didn't even use what you had in 200X. So we buy stupid things we'll never use, like asbestos gloves for pulling people out of burning cars (?), humongous tactical first-aid kits that would put a hospital to shame, and other silliness.

We must be especially poor this year, though, because Christmas-in-September never came. But I'm sure the FBI is buying each of their agents an Iphone, a police-packaged Ferrari, and a personal grenade launcher as we speak .

[nonickname69]

The thread about cheap agencies made me think just how much better I have it then others. Also made me think of how wasteful we are. Of course, Its my opinion of waste but my agency so far this year has wasted money on....

Cars- The gas prices the last couple years have had the admin recommending less idling, and the threat of not being able to replace cars has guys being alot more gentle with our cars, as they no longer are being looked at as throw away items. So what does the Admin do? Replace cars that dont need replacing, and we have 15 BRAND NEW cars sitting in the lot that ARE NOT USED. We have anywhere from 15-20 other used cars in the lot not being used at any given time also.

Equipment- We have laptops that are still in the box, along with radios, lightbars and all sorts of things. Waiting on cars we havent bought yet. They did this last year also, and you know what? They sold it, un-opened at way below cost to other police agencies because when it came time to install it, they wanted bigger and better. Lightbars are thrown out, not serviced most times. 2 year old cars get brand new light bars, then 6 months down the road when the car is replaced, the light bar is thrown out. They have upgraded the number of pods on the light bar, to the point where it is getting pretty useless.

There is MUCH more to this, but im just curious to see if anyone else is working for an agency that seems to be ignoring this economic downturn. And dont get me wrong. I LOVE MY AGENCY, and love the great equipment. But I also believe there is a such thing as over doing it, and we may later be regretting our being so wasteful.

Is there any kind of a city fraud and waste hotline? I don't think you are looking to get someone in trouble but save everyone some bucks. It maybe that there is a simple oversight of a purchasing department not having a good information exchange with a maintenance/supply department.