Rumor bunch of COs quit?????

[wolverine1]

Yes. It’s worth consideration.

On both accounts?

 

[EdLongshanks]

On both accounts?

Not necessarily the biological research aspect, but I do think that universities and other institutions could pick up the slack. Medical advancements are not made by the state

 

[FF/EMT516]

It’s pretty obvious…..but you are saying that general law enforcement will not respond to various crimes, meanwhile admitting that the department lacks the appropriate number of officers to respond to various crimes. They don’t offer competitive salaries and they aren’t attracting the needed applicants. The system has officers chasing their tails. It’s not the co’s fault but the system as a whole doesn’t seem to be sustainable or as effective as it could be

I never said they flat out won’t. It takes them a while sometimes. They’re all short handed. Either way. It’s obvious you don’t know anything about law enforcement, I don’t know a lot but I know enough to make a fair argument from their side. But I’m done arguing with you.

 

[Tankt]

That would open up KDFWR funds to get robbed. No thank you

 

[wolverine1]

Maybe Im wrong, but is there another state that does what you are suggesting? If so, I would be interested to see how its working.

KDFWR as a "whole" is involved in restoration, education, research, field studies (I see our biologist all the time and he is currently conducting a study of the decline of turkeys over the past 5 years or so) maintaining and improving our WMA's, fisheries studies, restocking efforts, maintenance of boat ramps free to the public, the list goes on and on. If you ever watch KY Afield you would probably be amazed at what the Department does across the state.

By statute, CO's have statewide enforcement powers, just like the State Police. Although their scope of their duties are different than that of other LE, they certainly can enforce all criminal statutes of the KRS. The same also applies to State Police and wildlife laws. I can tell you from my experience in a career of LE that the "abolishing" of the CO's, for a myriad of reasons, wouldn't be a good thing for the Commonwealth.

 

[EdLongshanks]

I never said they flat out won’t. It takes them a while sometimes. They’re all short handed. Either way. It’s obvious you don’t know anything about law enforcement, I don’t know a lot but I know enough to make a fair argument from their side. But I’m done arguing with you.

Cool. Continuing down the same path seems reasonable. Have a good day.

 

[wolverine1]

It’s pretty obvious…..but you are saying that general law enforcement will not respond to various crimes, meanwhile admitting that the department lacks the appropriate number of officers to respond to various crimes. They don’t offer competitive salaries and they aren’t attracting the needed applicants. The system has officers chasing their tails. It’s not the co’s fault but the system as a whole doesn’t seem to be sustainable or as effective as it could be

What is your suggestion on how to make it sustainable or effective? The word "effective" is largely subjective, so I would appreciate your definition in regards to this discussion.

Its no secret that the number of applicants, let alone QUALIFIED applicants, interested in a LE career has dwindled significantly. When I applied to KSP in 1995, there were over 4,000 applicants. Of those 4,000 or so there was roughly 80 that got hired an got an academy date. We graduated 66 in my class in 1996. I can tell you that the number that apply now are not in the thousands, but in the hundreds, and low hundreds at that. I went to work at a SO after retirement and I can tell you the biggest obstacle we faced was the hiring and more importantly the RETENTION of those people. As far as sustainable, that's a complex issue that requires a bit more discussion that could last for weeks or months..

 

[EdLongshanks]

What is your suggestion on how to make it sustainable or effective? The word "effective" is largely subjective, so I would appreciate your definition in regards to this discussion.

Its no secret that the number of applicants, let alone QUALIFIED applicants, interested in a LE career has dwindled significantly. When I applied to KSP in 1995, there were over 4,000 applicants. Of those 4,000 or so there was roughly 80 that got hired a got an academy date. We graduated 66 in my class in 1996. I can tell you that the number that apply now are not in the thousands, but in the hundreds, and low hundreds at that. I went to work at a SO after retirement and I can tell you the biggest obstacle we faced was the hiring and more importantly the RETENTION of those people. As far as sustainable, that's a complex issue that requires a bit more discussion that could last for weeks or months..

I’m not exactly sure….but as a whole, we have to reinvigorate our perception and support of law enforcement. That is obviously not a quick fix, but I’d start with drastically increasing state funding to police department throughout. Attraction and retention of quality officers is paramount and higher salaries and greater benefits would be a start. Since the majority of kdfw funding comes from federal grants, in conjunction with licensee and citation fees, there simply isn’t enough money to go around. Issuing citations to raise revenue is not a viable method in my opinion. If groups of officers are simply quitting or relocating elsewhere, there seems to be a systemic problem. I’m simply raising the question as to how effective is the current set up? How effective could a restructuring be? I know those words are subjective, but there appear to be issues that need to be addressed? Why couldn’t fish and game laws be delegated to the state police with increased funding? I know you mentioned that there are fewer applicants to KSP, but there appear to be even fewer to kdfw? Why couldn’t the law enforcement aspects be “outsourced” to a division of ksp? Why can’t we increase taxation to help pay for it? I don’t oppose paying taxes, but I’d rather get more bang for my buck. Law and order is goobermints number one job in my opinion. If I have a criminal issue, I’m calling my local sheriffs department first. No matter the situation. I would then go from there.

 

[wolverine1]

I’m not exactly sure….but as a whole, we have to reinvigorate our perception and support of law enforcement. That is obviously not a quick fix, but I’d start with drastically increasing state funding to police department throughout. Attraction and retention of quality officers is paramount and higher salaries and greater benefits would be a start. Since the majority of kdfw funding comes from federal grants, in conjunction with licensee and citation fees, there simply isn’t enough money to go around. Issuing citations to raise revenue is not a viable method in my opinion. If groups of officers are simply quitting or relocating elsewhere, there seems to be a systemic problem. I’m simply raising the question as to how effective is the current set up? How effective could a restructuring be? I know those words are subjective, but there appear to be issues that need to be addressed? Why couldn’t fish and game laws be delegated to the state police with increased funding? I know you mentioned that there are fewer applicants to KSP, but there appear to be even fewer to kdfw? Why couldn’t the law enforcement aspects be “outsourced” to a division of ksp? Why can’t we increase taxation to help pay for it? I don’t oppose paying taxes, but I’d rather get more bang for my buck. Law and order is goobermints number one job in my opinion. If I have a criminal issue, I’m calling my local sheriffs department first. No matter the situation. I would then go from there.

You have some valid points Ed. There is no short term fix although as a society we want things fixed "now" not five years down the road. Pay and benefits help, but remember funding from the state does not help county and municipal departments, that comes from a totally different source. And yes, applications to the KDFWR are surely suffering, worse than KSP no doubt. Could it be "considered" to outsource wildlife complaints to a division of KSP, sure it could, but it would require a substantial financial and manpower increase without question. You have some good suggestions Ed, but one of the bottom lines is that less and less want to do the job anymore. Why is that you ask? Well, you nailed part of it in your first sentence, "perception and support of law enforcement" Obviously there are an assortment of other reasons why applications are dwindling, some of which are shift work, working weekends and holidays, risk, fear of litigation, etc... the list goes on and on. Sportsman would be more likely to support taxes for the things you suggest, but lets be honest, it would be tough sell for the general public.

 

[bgkyarcher]

The shit we argue about. Damn

 

[wolverine1]

The shit we argue about. Damn

Just a discussion, nothing more.

 

[ribsplitter]

The shit we argue about. Damn

Hell, I don't even know if the CO's quit or stayed lol.

 

[EdLongshanks]

Hell, I don't even know if the CO's quit or stayed lol.

That’s probably the best point in this thread. We don’t even know if something happened 🤣

 

[Junglekat]

Ain't seen a game warden in 25 years,when Carl Salyers retired,never seen another game warden in greenup ky,guess they never replaced him,he was great at his job

 

[bgkyarcher]

Ain't seen a game warden in 25 years,when Carl Sawyers retired,never seen another game warden in greenup ky,guess they never replaced him,he was great at his job

Got his ass knocked off the top of the spillway by a snagger,lol. Twice.