Date: 5/5/2021 8:06:58 AM

"POOR MANAGEMENT"

If you read my essay want to work for the FDOC, well this is a follow up to that. On Thursday April 29, 2021 and the days leading up to that, I've seen officers being worked to absolute exhaustion!! These men are no good for security purposes! You can look into their eyes and see how tired they are. Well this past quarter I heard UCI lost 23 officers. They had enough of this job before family mentality, and basically told the FDOC to shove it. Well this has resulted in pushing what officers they have left to their breaking point! They're having to come in on their off days to work 16 hour shifts!!!! And get this, they're so short that they made the day shift officers come in at midnight on Thursday April 29, and work, until 4:00 pm Friday April 30. And this is after working all day Thursday. I only know this from hearing these poor, exhausted men talking about trying to get off by 4 pm Thursday evening, so they can rush home and try to get some sleep before being back here at midnight. Basically all the administration is looking for is a warm body to fill a position. These men are running on fumes! And I can only imagine the neglect that their wives and children are suffering as a result of this unbearable work load. And you know, if you're a good officer who shows up every day, and never uses up your sick leave etc, well at the end of your career, you don't get a bonus for being a good employee. Back in the day they rewarded the officers by paying them for all the sick leave that they accumulated, now under the new regime you forfeit all that sick leave. And they wonder why they can't keep staff? Come on it's not rocket science!! When I can sit here and identify these problems, then the Secretary of the FDOC Mark Inch should be able to see these problems and correct them. I was listening to the Legislatures talk about the issue with staffing in the FDOC, and how they need to give these officers a salary increase, that will entice them to stay in the Florida Department of Corrections rather than go to Walmart and make the same amount of money, in a less dangerous and stressful job. I agree wholeheartedly with that. But what really needs to be corrected, is the management problems within these administrations. It's not hard to see when someone just doesn't give a damn about you. And look at this junky stunt they pulled on their officers Thursday. Yes actions speak louder than hollow words!!! You can tell someone anything, but when you show that them you care, then they're more apt to follow you. And here... well 23 are gone need I say more?! Well there is more, for the word is more are leaving this next quarter. So if the FDOC is a ship in the night, well that ship is sinking fast! And it doesn't take a blind man to see, that there's a management problem when everyone is abandoning ship! And this personally affects me because our staff is having problems fulfilling their obligations to 33-FAC (Florida Administrative Codes) ensuring that we get our recreation and other programs that we're entitled to. And it's only going to get worse. So we have a steak in keeping this ship afloat. It's time for the Legislatures to get involved, and help correct this problem. We need them to interview these 23 plus officers who have left UCI and out what's wrong so it can be corrected. Because at this rate they're going to work the remaining officers into the ground. And we're going to be sitting in these cages in crisis mode. Yes it's passed time, to correct what's going on right now. And I need people to send my essays to the Florida Legislatures and try to get them to listen. Yes we need help, and we need it now. Thank you for your time and I pray for your help.
Sincerely Ronald W. Clark Jr.
April 30, 2021