Cop bucks  

We’ll revisit the issue of police pay vs. police value today, in spite of the fact that a concrete answer is impossible. But we citizens control the checkbook so we have to make a “guesstimate.”

First, what is the value of a cop’s service to a citizen of Costa Mesa?

Police are sworn to run to, not from, an emergency that may threaten their life – or ours. How much is that worth? Not much if you don’t end up in a life-threatening crisis. Value beyond measure if you are.

Hold back the barbarians

Cops form the bulwark that protects the rest of us from criminals, violent and larcenous. They’re pretty good at it but not perfect. We citizens have to make some effort to protect ourselves, too. And we have to pay our cops for serving and protecting us.

CMPD cops are effective; the “white supremacist” gangs were rampant in Costa Mesa, but their influence has diminished to minimal. This was a matter of good police work, not governmental actions. They didn't need a draconian ordinance that would have eroded citizens’ rights.

The cops enforced the laws already on the books to force miscreants to comply or to leave Costa Mesa. They protected the City through hard, persistent police work.  Our PD has a record of excellent and effective – and efficient police work.

Most PD’s have experienced a decrease in sworn officer strength during the downturn; CMPD has adjusted schedules, hired non-sworn personnel, and just worked smarter to continue to serve and protect Costa Mesa. Our cops are efficient.

Lives on the line daily

Their lives are still on the line every shift – and, considering gang threats, every day whether they are on duty or not. They still run toward the danger in order to serve and protect the citizens of Costa Mesa.

So, we have some great, professional street cops, who do a very good job. And it appears that we have a chief worthy of them and worthy of trust from Costa Mesa citizens. Are they all “good guys?” Of course not. Out of 130+ sworn officers there’s likely to be some bad apples.

Bad apples different here and in Chicago

But what makes a bad apple in CMPD? We have little to none of the PD graft or corruption seen in other cities. In some cases we think misdirection makes some cops look like bad apples. That brings us to police unions, or associations, as they prefer to be called. A bit of background for full disclosure:

Organized labor is the reason coal miners have livable wages and healthcare. My grandparents survived because the unions demonstrated, thumped heads, and made change happen, in the early 1900’s. Unions are the reason my father had a job that gave him pride and a decent living – and a reasonable retirement. The Teamsters’ union demonstrated and threatened – and thumped a lot of heads -- in the 1930’s and 40’s to make his job worth having – and his kids’ lives better than average.

By the late 1900’s, though, union intimidation, threats, and violence had become ineffective and often counterproductive, except as a temporary expedient.  Negotiation toward shared goals, PR, and education started prevailing in labor strife, whether in mines or on 18-wheelers.

Cops serving and protecting -- whom

CM PD’s association encouraged some unethical behavior, and their law-office advisers advocated a highly-adversarial, out-of-date approach to dealing with the City Council – their bosses – and with the citizens who paid them to be cops. Some cops may have been misled into thinking they are on duty to serve and protect their association instead of Costa Mesa citizens.

The association prevailed for a while. But the Council’s new majority – Mensinger, Monahan, Bever, and Righeimer, stood up to the association, in spite of personal – and often illegal attacks on them. That’s not to say the Council Members acted like knights coming to save the citizens. They were more like a kid who stands up to schoolyard bullies; confrontational, determined, and often loud and brazen.

How much should we pay them

Soon we Costa Mesa voters are going to determine how much a cop is worth to us. It’s hard not to discount all cops because of the outdated and ineffective tactics of a few. But it’s not useful, nor fair, to punish most of the force for the behaviors of a few misguided cops. Perhaps we’d be better off if those few left CMPD.

Fortunately, the city has a lot of qualified applicants anxious to replace them. We suspect that the quality of the department is as big a draw for most of them as is the generous pay and benefit package they’ll receive. That doesn't mean we’re paying them enough, already. Nor that we aren't.

Like homeowners, citizens of Costa Mesa have to balance their expenditures to their income. We have a long-term liability that we have no means to pay at this time. But pay it we must. We can slow, or stop the growth of that debt by changing the benefit schedules for new hires. (Our agreements with the existing officers are promises, so current officers will enjoy their contracted pay and benefits.)

Prioritize expenses and divide resources

So, how much can we afford to pay cops? How much do we need to spend maintaining and upgrading Costa Mesa to attract productive families and give them the schools, and parks, and youth sports, and libraries – and cops -- that they deserve? How are we going to retire the long-term liability?

Select our representatives and give them the tools

During this election we’ll choose the people to represent us in making these decisions. We know the plans of the “3M’s” because they've published them. They want the Charter as a tool to help them.

Their opponents are in the first three slots on the ballot. They have no concrete plans; their program is opposition (to just about everything).

Need a slogan to remember in the voting booth? “3Ms and V, just skip the first three” will work.

“You know, man, they just hate us.” 

In another city and time, my friend from “the Barrio” believed that. I didn't  I believed cops “serve and protect” all citizens. The “hatred” she saw, I thought, was anger at the crime, at the criminals; cops reacting to the deplorable living conditions they saw. But they didn't hate any of the folks they served and protected.

Perhaps they resented what seemed to be acceptance of crime and criminals in that community, and she viewed their resentment as hate. I was never able to convince her.

Serve and Protect

“Cops serve and protect every single citizen in the City --always,” according to a police sergeant from that city and time.

Full disclosure; I spent a little time wearing the badge a long time ago; and I do believe that cops fall among the most honorable of men (and women, if that needs to be said). Their ethics tend be high, like those of nurses and small-congregations' ministers. And like them, there are a few bad apples in their ranks. But most embrace integrity and professionalism.

Now, in Costa Mesa, I've had a chance to meet a few cops, and to ride along with one, through the Citizens’ Academy. (That’s an educational program of CMPD that I recommend highly for anyone who wants to know what the department is really doing, and what cops really need.)

I still believe that cops serve and protect all of the citizens. But, after Thursday, I understood better what my friend from the barrio was trying to tell me. There are exceptions.

While at City Hall

I visited City Hall that morning with three purposes: I wanted to attend the CM Taxpayers’ press conference about the sign-destroying episode. If the time worked out right, I wanted to learn a little about a local cop during his retirement celebration (Passing of the Badge): School Resource Officer Jess Gilman has made a big difference in Costa Mesa. And, as a photographer I wanted to get some good pictures under high contrast conditions.

Unfortunately, the camera was DOA, and I learned something I didn't want to know.

Understanding cops

During the Citizen’s Academy we've learned how ethical cops have to be. Law Enforcement is one of the few professions (it’s like nursing) in which lying about professional matters, even once, is likely to end the job, maybe even the career.

Even private life difficulties can impact their jobs. Like nurses, a DUI or spousal abuse conviction can end a career. For cops, less serious infractions like a speeding ticket can be job threatening, too. Costa Mesa PD holds their sworn officers to high standards.

Prevent crime by knowing the community

And the Department takes community policing seriously. The officers know their beats and the people who live there very well, like the “old time” cop who walked a beat. But, they are still hated by some for being cops.

“Yeah, they just see the uniform and it dredges up all of their old resentments. It’s decreasing since we got the (skinhead) gangs pretty well out of here. . .crime went way down . . .new generation might even grow up knowing we’re here for them, too.”

Cops are professionals here

My classmates told of similar remarks they heard during their ride-alongs. We were universally impressed with the professionalism, devotion, patience, and integrity of the cops we rode with. Costa Mesa has professional street cops.

“Cops serve and protect every single citizen in the City,” applies right now in Costa Mesa.

Back to City Hall

Fitzpatrick prepared for his CM Taxpayers’ press conference as members of the Department walked past, going to the ceremony in Council Chambers. Jim’s organization opposes the high benefits enjoyed by police officers, which is certainly a point of contention – and arguable (see Blog 4 Sep.). But, there’s no way he or his organization could be perceived as criminal.

Chief Gazsi demonstrated the professionalism we've come to expect from an exemplary leader, greeting Jim amiably as he passed. The Chief is under pressure from the City Council to perform, from the unions to conform, and from political factions to support their separate viewpoints. But he’s a consummate professional, and a leader, and he sets a good example for his sworn officers. His street cops follow his example.

While I was trying to resuscitate my camera, two tall officers walked by – frowns, barely civil in returning the “good mornings.” They were identified as senior police staff. Some non-sworn personnel passed, with variable courtesy. And an officer with a shaved head, another senior police officer, passed.

Confrontation!

Suddenly he whirled, head thrust forward, “fighting face on,” one fist clenched: “What did you say?” he demanded through clenched teeth. His posture, expression, and face were loaded with anger and hate – yes, hate. Had Jim’s group been a bunch of “gangster wanna bees” from the South sector, there would have been cop baiting, arguing, challenging – perhaps an incident requiring backup from more officers, probably violence and arrests.

But he was confronting law-abiding citizens in business dress. So, we just looked at him, surprised into silence. (Including me, as his aggressive posture and pugnacious behavior had distracted me from camera malfunctions.) Someone replied with a benign, “we didn't say anything,” and the shaven-headed police officer turned back toward the Council Chambers.

“You know, man, they just hate us.” 

I've developed a new perspective on my friend’s outrage. Maybe she’s right – sometimes.

But, I believe that the majority of the street cops, and the Chief, in Costa Mesa, are here to serve and protect. And they do so with courage, honor, integrity, and most of all, professionalism.

No use nourishing hatred

I was reluctant to go watch the retirement ceremony: You know, man, they  . . . hate us. An atmosphere of hate wouldn't add much to my admiration for a great Police Officer or my respect for the department. It would just tempt me to hate back.

“You know, man, they just hate us.” I understand now, Marcella.

Police Pay

We've been hearing a lot about police pay; too much or not enough? Is there an answer?

Surely, a sworn officer who promises to serve and protect me, who runs toward danger to keep me safe – surely she deserves adequate pay. That officer must understand and use significant chunks of law to make decisions, often almost instantly. She is empowered to take freedom away from me (and others), and to use deadly force. And she must use her knowledge and powers wisely, that is what we depend on, that is what we pay her to do. But how much should we pay?

The officer – and his family – never starts a shift with any certainty that he’ll be alive to return home at the end of the shift. Auto collisions, bullets, knives, and clubs can change his after-shift destination to the hospital or the morgue. Accumulated stress and physical battering will take its toll on his health and his relationships. How much is that worth right now? Can we value it today in tomorrow’s dollars? How much is he worth, today – and over the years in retirement?

The officer deals with folks who want to compromise her ethics and morals, “give me a break, just this once.” The officer deals with folks who call her names, who spit and shit and bite – and try to infect her with needles because she’s a cop. She meets folks who want to kill her just because she wears a badge.

Just a civilian with a checkbook

I’m a civilian, I can’t understand this. I can’t comprehend the pressures and temptations, and fears. I can only pay for the service. Am I paying enough? Or too little? Or too much?

But what we civilians see is

The officer is represented in negotiations for pay and privilege by a union. We civilians see the union reps and draw our conclusions. Perhaps the officer is represented by a group of union professionals who persuade us bill-payers of the value of his services. Maybe that cop is worth more than we are paying.

Or maybe her union uses tactics which paint her as a goon, greedy and lazy and corrupt. We may see  her as severely flawed, as if she had lied and cheated and intimidated and threatened.....She didn’t, although her union did, but will we see the difference?

Cops were tops -- then

We used to admire and respect her, and honor her for her courage and devotion to our safety, but what do we see now? We just pay the bills. And we wonder, are we paying her too much to intimidate citizens and council members? Or should we look to another organization for our safety? How much is that cop really worth?

The sworn officer goes to a home disturbed by intoxicated, violent and angry people, and he calms them, gets them to separate and cool off, and someone on an upper landing urinates on him. And the officer sighs and changes clothes. And goes back out on the street to serve and protect – me.

The officers who were spit on and urinated on will get their uniforms cleaned, and will be back at work to protect me, nights and weekends included, and will try to keep peace in the city.  But now my neighbors are saying, “Aren’t we paying too much for these goons? Who do they serve and protect, besides their union? Do you know how much money we’re paying them to eat donuts?”

Gone, now, or at least going, is our automatic respect for the cop.

And the sworn officer adjusts his uniform and starts another shift. He has sworn to serve and to protect. He’ll do his best. And most of the Cost Mesa officers are like him. I wish I could prove that to my neighbors, and sometimes even to myself. 

And we wonder, “How much is that cop really worth, all things considered?”