Commissioners Approve Process to Fill TPD Positions, Get Public Safety Update

At their February 12 meeting, the City Commissioners unanimously voted to ratify a Memorandum of Understanding for the promotion of Tallahassee Police Department lieutenants.

Currently, TPD’s process of promoting from Sergeant to Lieutenant is governed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Big Bend Police Benevolent Association and the City of Tallahassee, staff reports.

“The last promotional process for lieutenant (conducted under the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement) resulted in an eligibility list, for the lieutenant positions, which expired May 29, 2018,” staff reports. “The Tallahassee Police Department has not held a lieutenants’ promotional process nor had an eligibility list for the position of lieutenant since this date.”

This has resulted in vacancies in critical positions. According to the meeting agenda, members of the Big Bend Police Benevolent Association, Inc. (PBA) and members of the Tallahassee Police Department’s Command Staff agreed to the MOU to fill these vacancies.

The MOU creates guidelines for a temporary promotion process to fill vacant Sergeant and Lieutenant positions. The MOU also outlines an application process based heavily on experience and evaluations.

According to the MOU, all current Sergeants will be eligible to apply for promotion to Lieutenant.

The Commissioners unanimously voted to ratify the MOU.

Police Chief Lawrence Revell also gave a public safety update at the meeting.

He discussed new initiatives within TPD, including community meetings, a juvenile advisory committee, and an officer wellness committee.

He also updated the Commission on the status of the new police department. “We are very excited about that,” he said. “We are moving forward with the spatial needs analysis, and we are preparing to meet with the engineers and architects to push that forward as quickly as we possibly can,” said Revell.