LVMPD’s bad management; is the public paying the price?

When I began writing, I tried not to concentrate so much on my old employer, LVMPD, as it might appear that I had a grudge against them.  But as you watch the TV or read the paper, it is apparent that controversy reigns supreme in Metro’s management.

The question is why?  What is the problem?  We should be looking at the “top”, at the upper administration, not at the troops working the streets. 

The premise?  Most problems with most failing organizations begin with bad management and bad policies.

Let’s review a few of the facts:

1.     The new LVMPD building comes at a lease (30 years) price of over 12 million dollars per year.  Prior to opening the building the total leasing price of the offices it replaces was approximately 1/3^rd of the new lease.  The cost for the new, inadequately equipped headquarters is a net increase of 8 million tax dollars per years.  Coincidentally, this year, the sheriff has told the employees of Metro that another eight million dollars needed to be trimmed from the existing budget this year.

a.)   Most other metropolitan areas have begun investigating in “de-centralizing” their headquarters for obvious security reasons.  After the 9/11 attack of primary government buildings, the vulnerability of having “all your eggs in one basket” became painfully clear.

b.)  There will still need to be millions of dollars in needed upgrades to the headquarters in order for all the residents/officers/detectives to function properly.  (Many of the upgrades, including security measures, were eliminated from the initial budget to meet the construction budget, but will be added later after completion of the building, not that the administration was trying to sneak anything by the public).

2.      Currently, Metro Police officers and civilians are being required to accept pay cuts and decreases in benefits due to budget cuts while upper administration appears to be expanding and new positions are being formed to accommodate the “special” management.  Such new positions such as the Chief of Staff (never had one before) and appointing a new, unneeded Assistant Sheriff in the last six months are indicative of the favoritism in the upper regime.  How does this make any sense?

a.)  These decisions may have made some sense in another, more prolific time, such as the growth boom in the early 2000’s, but with a dramatically reduced population since 2005, why does it take more chiefs to oversee fewer Indians?

3.      Next, it would seem that common sense would dictate Sheriff Gillespie’s decision to appoint Deputy Chief Greg McCurdy to Assistant Sheriff.  Here’s a man that was deemed guilty of sexual harassment of two female Metro employees, while in charge of the bureau that investigated sexual harassment complaints at Metro!  The payout by Metro was allegedly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer’s money.  So, he knows of the policies that regulate his ability to perform his job and he chose to skirt them instead of enforcing them and he is now Assistant Sheriff?  I hope he’s wearing an ankle bracelet.

4.     Mismanagement of tax dollars and public funds for purchasing radios that work only part of the time and in certain parts of the county can be forgivable (everyone makes a bad buying decision from time to time), but to continue to re-enforce that bad decision by force feeding the radio system down the throats of those whose lives depend on a properly working system is unforgivable.  The very same people who have showed concern for the improperly working system have been threatened with discipline if they continue to express their feelings about it.  The same people who are blamed for the radio problems due to “user error”.  Every aspect of the system is flawed, but the administration refuses to accept responsibility for it, instead placing blame on the employees and the surrounding casinos for “infringing” on Metro’s frequency.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention.  This particular company LVMPD bought the system from has been documented for its failures with other police agencies.  Metro continues to spend additional millions in an effort to correct the numerous problems with its radios, now labeled as “speak and spell” by officers.

5.     When chief editor Rick Singer called the Sheriff’s office, he was directed

to a message machine to leave his questions and concerns.  This was last Friday, the 16^th.  To date, he has not received a return call.

At the end of the day, can senior management stop an individual’s poor behavior?  Not really.  Occasionally, people, police officers, etc., may stray, drink and drive, crash into some friends, pick up a hooker, etc..  But where does the permissive attitude begin?  At the top!  Mishandling money, womanizing, domestic violence, promoting employees guilty of unacceptable behavior to high levels of management, promoting friends and family members of senior staff while at the same time asking the “grunts” to take pay cuts and reduce their benefits appears to be the  management and policy method of choice for LVMPD.  Any wonder why crime goes up?  Public service goes down.  Public perception of the police goes down.  Department morale is in the toilet.  Other agencies laugh at Metro’s inadequacy to properly equip our officers in case of a critical incident.

I guess the point is based upon the leadership in LVMPD, how can you expect a once highly ranked/rated police department in the country to do anything else?

 “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”? Let's hope that's true with the example these guys are setting.