The Big Bend Police Benevolent Association, frustrated with contract negotiations with the City of Tallahassee, took a bold step and placed a controversial message on several billboards around town.
The billboards read, “Thinking of sending your child to college in Tallahassee? Think again! Tallahassee is the 5th most dangerous city in Florida. Murders are the highest they’ve been in years.”
The President of the Big Bend PBA, Richard Murphy, said he hopes the billboards will encourage the City to reconsider their negotiating position with the PBA.
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Three Questions for Richard Murphy, President of the Big Bend Chapter of the Florida PBA
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“The community will see what is going on in law enforcement,” Murphy said. “They will ask the city manager and the city commission to give us a fair wage in our contract. And also ask the city manager and the city commission to address the staffing crisis at the police department.”
The City released the following statement in response to the billboards:
“It’s extremely disheartening to see the PBA union resort to negative publicity tactics aimed at our community, which their members at the police department work so hard to protect. We remain committed to ensuring fair compensation for the brave men and women who serve
us every day.”
Unions are, by their nature, corrupt. They try to advance the interests of the incompetent alongside the interests of the competent--and take a large fee for doing so. Unions have no place whatever in the public employee domain. When they get involved in the politics surrounding public employees, the potential for corruption redoubles, all at public expense. Police officers and others represented by unions must excel and get paid according to their own merits--not by the arm-twisting of taxpayers done by the unions.
Lyssa...….. Matlow owns three Pizza Joints here in Tallahassee, wouldn't that make him a Capitalist? Believe me, he's not giving those Pizza's away...…...LOL
@Hope or @Snidely or @Edward Lyle, is there any chance any of you might run for Mayor? I sincerely mean that. The current Leftist needs to go...and while Mr. Matlow does some things well, he's still a Socialist that would take the city harder-Left, if given the chance.
When you have layers of incompetent management as in at the Circle K and the City of Tallahassee as in the city manager then the dam is going to break sooner or later.
One person in Tallahassee had the wherewithal and sense and took action to try to stop this nonsense. That was City Commissioner Jerry Matlow. In 2019 Matlow asked city manager Reese Goad to resign.
I believe the PBA should be putting up billboards Jeremy "Matlow for Mayor" instead.
A dirty tactic that embarrasses the city for PBA gain. They think of the union first and p—- on the city we call home. Another example how the PBA is all about themself, not the officers, and surely not the citizens of Tallahassee. I’m betting the TPD officers are embarrassed.
Thanks for bringing up the Circle K killing:
And what about Circle K? Hireing felons to be in such close contact with the public?
Circle K may have some liability in the murder of the bystander.
And another more logical point against Circle K - you all must think its a great idea to have felons handle not just your money but every customer's credit and debit cards also.
Just some logical thoughts that come to mind in the aftermath of that senseless tragedy.
Felons should be working in non public contact positions like cooking back in the kitchen of a restaurant...jobs like that are taught in prison.
A fair assessment, POC... the Woke Supremist Cabal will be the downfall of us all... if we let them that is.
I have a ton of issues with LEOs. Especially when it comes to upholding their oath to protect and defend the constitution or do they not do that anymore? Sadly, the woke insanity that has frankly overtaken the nation and is being manifested here locally has led to the Capital District moving headlong onto the same path as all the other Democrat controlled municipalities/counties. Not a fan of either the city or the PBA. But I do appreciate the overt messaging to mostly out of town folk who may not know the whole dirty truth of Florida’s Capital District. Now I’m hearing the City is going to look into some kind of citizen’s app for everyone to download to keep tabs on the police. As if the insane citizen’s review board isn’t bad enough. This is just more fodder for the woke mob to keep beating on the police. Don’t cops already have body cams on them? I’m fine with just that. I don’t blame any cop who will just do nothing with all this nonsense going on. It’s called being passive aggressive City of Tallahassee. Good luck getting quality recruits with all the trash you’re heaping on TPD. The only recruits you will get will most likely be from the bottom of the barrel. Maybe that’s the intention of the woke clowns that run the Capital District?
Ironically the shooting/murder on Apalachee Parkway occurred right across from FHP headquarters, the Kirkman Building. Other than Tallahassee Reports where will anyone here get the truth on what’s really going on? The metrics don’t lie and if the clowns that run this show can’t get it right, I will move up my family’s plan to get out of the Capital District sooner.
This is about the Shooting at the Parkway Circle K:
"TPD says several guns and vehicles were seized as a result of the investigation.
Barnes faces charges of felony murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, carrying a concealed firearm and attempted second-degree murder, TPD’s release says. Additionally, Sparks faces charges of felony murder, attempted second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Both Barnes and Sparks were booked into the Leon County Jail. Their first court appearances are scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday."
Maybe the Cops should start doing a "Stop & Search" on all Males between the ages of 15 to 50. I wonder how many Guns they would take off the streets each Week and they can keep tabs on which Race had the Guns.
I believe that one of the reasons we have such a high Crime Rate in Tallahassee is that the DA, ADA, Prosecuting Attorneys and the Judges are to soft on the Criminals. If a Crime is set for 8 to 10 Years in Prison and they plead Not Guilty, give them the 10 Years and if they can offer you help in other open Cases you then give them a Month or two off their Time, NOT Years. If they plead Guilty to save time, THEN you give them the 8 Years. In other words, GET TOUGHER ON CRIMINALS. The goal is to PUNISH them, not Baby Sit them.
I also believe that, if an Uninvited Intruder is in your House, Shed, Vehicle or Trailer trying to steal from you, you should be allowed to use DEADLY Force to stop the Intruder with out actually putting yourself in harms way. Too many Criminals doing these acts. Take a few out and maybe the others will think before committing a crime.
PS... the PBA needs to be accountable for their endorsements... how are the endorsements for Curtis Richardson and Mayor Dailey working out for them?
Perhaps the south, west, and east sides should join the Northside in incorporating and Tallahassee proper be an island unto itself.
Another obvious reason why there needs to be a nationwide search for a qualified city manager. Also, the person that the police report to in the city has no law enforcement experience so expect more of the same.
Reese Goad was good at his job in utilities, but does not have the experience or qualifications to be a city manager. He was put in that position when corruption was exposed and they were desperate to find a person to go along to get along. That is where we are.
City commissioners are derelict in their duties if they do not do a nationwide search immediately for a qualified city manager.
The mayor expends his energies on Democratic Party nonsense agendas and publicity stunts and a ridiculous Child Services Council. He does nothing to fight crime or to better the lives of our law enforcement officers regarding pay increases and such. We need a new mayor also.
“It’s extremely disheartening to see the PBA union resort to negative publicity tactics aimed at our community..."
Not a big fan of this kind of ever-increasing shame tactic, often used by the NaziCrats and their Woke Supremacists... but the counter spin is just as foolish. It's pretty clear that the PBA's tactic isn't aimed at our "community", but rather directly at the City Manager.
I noticed that the City's retort didn't challenge the stated facts in the piece... aka: "Tallahassee is the 5th most dangerous city in Florida. Murders are the highest they've been in years".
The City Manager is likely in a tough spot with this issue. I expect that he does want to do the right thing here, but the Defund the Police crowd will undoubtedly push back. We've already heard some elected politicians express how big metal LEO vehicles scare them.
Those billboards are kind of expensive.
This stalemate shows just how stupid the PBA leadership and their members are.
What I'm saying is if you guys had taken just 1/2 your wasted billboard money and slipped it in untraceable cash into the one and only decision maker's pocket the PBA would have had a deal over a year ago.
Guys at the PBA:
Reese Goad is thinking you are all idiots and patiently awaiting that wad of cash.