DCGOP LEADERSHIP: An Appeal to DCSO Deputies Against Unionization
Editor’s Note: A week-long vote to unionize the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is scheduled to begin on Monday, April 29. The DCGOP officer team collaborated with several activists to write this open letter urging deputies to vote against this effort. The DCGOP Executive Committee passed a resolution against any local Douglas County government unionization efforts on April 16. Read the resolution text here.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputies
4000 Justice Way
Castle Rock, CO 80109
To our honorable sheriff’s deputies of Douglas County:
We are writing as strong supporters of a dedicated, well-trained, and compassionate law enforcement community. Thanks to longtime efforts of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO), municipal law enforcement, and affiliated agencies, Douglas County has been a leader in low crime rates on the Front Range and our citizens as a whole steadfastly value our police and public safety personnel. We wish to express our deep concern about the possibility of a vote to unionize the DCSO.
For myriad reasons, we believe that unionization is not in the interests of our sheriff’s deputies, members of DCSO management, taxpayers, or citizens of Douglas County. Our observation of similarly unionized law enforcement or local government offices is that rank and file deputies find themselves with less autonomy and individuality, which can affect job performance, evaluation, pay, benefits, and training. Dues are not optional, and are generally sent outside of the local area to promote political candidates, issue causes, or other advocacy with which local sheriff’s deputies may disagree or find objectionable. Some may say that some dues money is spent to benefit local employees, especially individuals in difficult financial or health circumstances. Such benefit can be provided outside of a union structure, which is wholly unnecessary to support these causes.
Collective bargaining is a process unconcerned with the individual and his or her needs, talents, ambition, or desires. It decreases recognition for high performers in favor of forcing an ossified model on the entire workforce. It incentivizes self-dealing for union leadership and political partners, increasing costs, waste, and inefficiencies. The bargaining unit must depend on leadership not only to negotiate, but also to communicate key milestones in the bargaining process. Contrary to leadership talking points, non-management employees have no voice in their own careers. Individuals who eventually prove to be poor fits within the workforce are more difficult to counsel, discipline, or terminate. Not only does this result in underperforming people impacting the work of others, but it also creates low morale, where high performers see a clear difference in the quality of work but are compensated and rewarded the same.
Trust and partnership are cornerstones of public safety professions. It is essential to know that in a crisis, everyone is working together on the same page, and there is no doubt that peers and management are aligned. By their nature, union relationships with management are necessarily adversarial. This negative element can affect critical decision making as deputies needing to make rapid judgment calls can second-guess themselves based on uncertainty as to how the rules will be applied. These decisions are hard enough already. There is no need to create this additional stressor.
For all of these reasons, we believe that unionization is the wrong choice for DCSO. However, the biggest reason of all is that the citizens of Douglas County have a high regard and excellent relationship with our sheriff, his deputies, and support staff. We fear that collective bargaining will intrude on this relationship, degrading the quality of personnel and service, lower the financial outcomes and stability for both the DCSO and the taxpayers, and make special interests in charge rather than high-performing individuals and accountable elected officials.
We urge you to place our trust in you, the excellent deputies of Douglas County, above those special interests and reject this attempt to force you into a monolith of one-size-fits-all policies and procedures that do not promote excellence or public safety. We believe that you are all exceptional and that Sheriff Darren Weekly has all of our backs, just as we have always had yours. We thank you for your consideration and for the tireless work you all do every day for Douglas County.
Respectfully,
Steven Peck, Chairman
Robin Webb, First Vice Chair
Ed Hairfield, Second Vice Chair
Kim Baer, Secretary
Meghann Silverthorn, Treasurer
