March-April 1973 Yearbook Edition
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VOLUME 17, NO. 1 MARCH-APRIL 1973 YEARBOOK EDITION CONTENTS Sheriffs Association Officers and Directors 3 Directory of County Officials .40 Florida's Government Directory of State Agencies . 16 Executive Branch . 10 Judicial Branch 30 Legislative Branch . 19 State Government Chart . 8 Florida's Men In Washington . 35 Public Service Commission . 15 Sheriff's Telephone Numbers and Addresses Inside Back Cover Editor, Carl Stauffer Executive Director, Florida Sheriffs Association Associate Editor, Al Hammock Art Director, Frank J. Jones Production Assistant, Adnette McClellan THE SHERIFF'S STAR is published monthly by the Florida Sheriffs Association, a non-profit corporation, P. O. Box 1487, Tallahassee, Florida 32302 (street address, 330 South Adams). The subscription rate is $2.50 per year. Second class postage paid at Tallahassee, Florida and at additional mailing offices. SHERIFF SAM T. JOYCE, PRESIDENT P Our Problems Boil Down To One Thing: ADEQUATE FINANCIAL RESOURCES A legislative committee recently asked the Florida Sheriffs Florida cannot continue to maintain its excellent law en- Association: "What are the major problems in your professional forcement record unless we do something about the manpower area?" shortage produced by inadequate budgets and growing respon- And we responded that these problems could be summarized sibilities. very briefly into two categories: We are aware of the influx of new residents into Florida, (1) Those caused by lack of sufficient manpower, and the tremendous growth of our urban and rural counties, and (2) Those caused by the constant build-up of administra- the swelling tide of tourists. To those who own and operate tive detail and paper work. cash registers, this is good news. To the men in the thin ranks Simplifying the matter even further we pointed out that of law enforcement it brings apprehension and the threat both of these categories could actually be grouped into one of disaster. overall problem, namely, the lack of sufficient financial re- They know that population expansion will produce a tre- sources to provide local law enforcement with enough man (or mendous increase in the law enforcement work load at a time woman) power to do the work required. when they are simultaneously faced with a general escalation Low salaries contribute to the problem. of administrative details caused by court decisions, minimum In recent months we have been able to get the starting standards, revision of the judicial article of our constitution, salaries of deputy sheriffs up to at least $6,000 state-wide; but uniform crime reporting and other factors. — this accomplishment looks small when compared with the fact Improvements in the —criminal justice system although that a rookie policeman in New York City starts at $12,500 desirable and necessary produce mountains of paper work, annually, with a guaranteed $1,000 raise at the end of six and paper work is driving police manpower off the streets and months. into the office. Sheriffs' salaries have improved in Florida, but they too are The goals of more accurate crime reporting, more careful dwarfed by comparison with law enforcement salaries in other accounting, advanced training, full compliance with uniform areas of the nation. The base salary of a grade one patrolman jail regulations, health standards, civil rights protections, etc., after two years experience in the far corner of Brooklyn is are admirable and vital; yet simply keeping the records and more than $15,000 a year, which puts him above the salaries complying with regulations produce a manpower drain and an presently being paid to at least 43 of our 67 Florida Sheriffs. administrative load which, if not compensated for, might actual- Raising salaries would ease our problem, but it is only one ly reduce the quality of law enforcement rather than improve it. step. Manpower must be increased too, and the financial re- next sources must be found to make this possible. (continued on page) (President s message continued j making an arrest for even the most minor infraction has gone out of sight. Back in the days of the fee system, the sheriff Sheriffs tell me their deputies now spend 60 per cent more used to charge $7.50 for an arrest. Today it would cost $75 time preparing reports and doing required paper work than they at a minimum. did just a few years ago. The time now spent in the simple pro- The only remedy seems to be to provide local law enforce- cess of booking a prisoner into the jail has increased approxi- ment with adequate budgets to enable each Sheriff and each mately 40 per cent. police chief to hire sufficient staff to carry on his primary law Current department of corrections regulations, brought into enforcement function, yet, at the same time, cope with the focus by recent court decisions, now require a formal hearing growing administrative demands and responsibilities. covered by a written report for every prisoner who is disci- But this problem of insufficient manpower and inadequate plined in a county jail even though the discipline might be so funding responds to no easy answer. Where do we get the minor as moving the prisoner from one cell to another. And if money? recent federal court rulings prevail, that prisoner will also have If I had an adequate solution, I would be the first to offer to be represented by legal counsel. it. I do know that the creation or expansion of duplicative We used to kid about it, but it actually has almost gotten state operated facilities is not the answer. Experience in this to the place where every policeman has to carry a public de- and many other states has shown that this too-often-used fender, an assistant state attorney, a medic, and a notary public remedy only increases the cost and complicates the problem. with him at all times to make sure that the law breaker is pro- We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars at the perly treated and given his so-called legal rights when appre- federal and state levels ostensibly to provide local law enforce- hended. ment with assistance. But in my opinion very little of these Historically, the high Sheriff of the county has had much millions ever get spent where they are most needed —to beef independence, much power and much autonomy. Today he up the numbers and salaries of the policemen on the neigh- closely resembles the doctor in the surgical amphitheatre with borhood beat. all sorts of spectators and experts watching his every move. We spend untold millions on elaborate planning studies, County Commissioners and state auditors keep a wary eye exotic computer services, and so-called innovative techniques on his professional accounts and records; prison inspectors tell and advanced programming, yet the crime rate continues to him how he can handle his prisoners in his jail; health inspec- rise and the criminals on the street multiply faster than the tors make roach counts in the jail kitchens; bleeding hearts and policemen. the civil rights activists second guess and usually criticize every Government spending for law enforcement and criminal move he makes in apprehending a suspected law breaker. justice is increasing at a tremendous rate, but we need to take Police unions are threatening to dictate who he can hire, a look at the priorities. who he can fire and how much he can pay them, but leave to Research, planning, raising of educational standards, sophis- him the job of finding the money. ticated equipment and computers, are all important and neces- Meanwhile, administrative details and paper work demand an sary, but firg+zigzgy should be given to adequate budgets increasingly greater proportion of time; leaving less and less and manpower. Innovative programs and brave new concepts time for the Sheriff and his deputies to perform the basic skills will mean nothing without the funds to carry them out. of their trade, namely, the prevention and detection of crime Perhaps we are spending enough, but perhaps it is not being and the apprehension of law breakers. put where it will do the most good. I must confess that I see little that can be done about the The number of state and federal so-called "assistance growing work load of non-law enforcement activity in today' s agencies" —the regional planners, the state coordinators, the society. It is simply inevitable that paper work and adminis- federal consultants —are practically falling over themselves in trative details are likely to increase at an accelerating rate. spending federal and state moneys in the name of law enforce- The fantastic increase in the costs of government at all levels ment, but the real guts of the problem —more men and better is well known to all of us. pay for them at the precinct and courthouse level —remains For example, the cost of passing a law today compared with largely ignored. 10 or 20 years ago would probably be astounding. Unless some answer to this problem is found, all that we While I do not have any figures to document it, I will wager have done and are attempting to do to improve our system of to- that the dollar cost of passing a bill through the legislature criminal justice in Florida will be for naught; because if local day is probably more than five times what it was in 1952. law enforcement fails, our society cannot long survive. This same thing is true in law enforcement. The cost of "Florida cannot continue to maintain its excellent law enforcement record unless we do something about the manpower shortage produced by inadequate budgets and growing responsibilities. " Sheriff Sam Joyce President, Florida Sheriffs Association THE SHERIFF'S STAR 'v1 Malcolm Beard Joe Crevasse Monroe Brennan John A.