Hello, everyone. Just wanna give a little run down on who I am before I begin this topic. I am ApatheticAlex_Law, and I am currently a Corporal within the Firestone State Patrol, whom I have been serving with for a year. Throughout my time of service, I have enjoyed working with this department and meeting wonderful amazing people. However, I am here today to talk about a recent change that was made to Section IV.B, Vehicle Restrictions of the Firestone State Patrol Employee Handbook.
I believe that I can speak on behalf of a great number of employees as I have received an abundant amount of feedback from fellow employees and their opinion of the new policy. In the previous policy, it was stated that the following employees who meet this criteria are permitted to drive these certain vehicles:
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Slicktop Dodge Charger - Corporal+
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Unmarked Tahoe - Lieutenant + or at least 6 months of service
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Unmarked Dodge Charger - Captain+ or at least 1 year of service
The new policy that was made now states that the slicktop dodge charger is only to be used by Sergeant+, unmarked tahoe for Lieutenant+, and the unmarked dodge charger for Captain+. As we can see, the service requirement for the unmarked charger and tahoe and rank requirement for the slicktop has been removed and replaced with these new set of rules.
Although it may not seem like a big deal because they are just vehicles, I believe that they have a great correlation to the morale and motivation of fellow employees. When I reached my one year of service within this department, I felt very motivated to patrol with the unmarked dodge charger. However after just 3 days of being eligible to use this new vehicle, the policy is unexpectedly changed and no longer gives me the eligibility to operate this vehicle. My significant symbol of motivation to patrol more than what is needed just vanished altogether. After receiving feedback from multiple fellow employees, they stated that they feel the same way. I do feel that these vehicles, in a way, act as an appreciation award for employees that have worked exceptionally hard and have been within the department for a great amount of time. When you are given motivation, it can inspire you to work harder and really look up to the department. After the recent change in the vehicle policy, it is hard to find motivation to work more than what is needed, as there is now a lack of symbolic morale. One concern that I acknowledged was that these vehicles can be abused by employees, meaning that there is a lack of utilizing standard marked vehicles. However, before the new change was implemented, I want you to ask yourselves, how often did I really see these vehicles being in use? Only a handful of employees within the Firestone State Patrol meet the old policy criteria. Personally, I like to view these vehicles as “rare” and not used in great quantities which makes them abused. Therefore, I see this new change simply as an un-necessary action and was not needed whatsoever. Not to mention, but these vehicles are also a great source for conducting tasks during the night, and catching criminals easier while not being detected as easily (credit to haybilly for the idea!). To all my fellow employees, I ask you to support this campaign to have the new policy changed to it’s original nature to benefit the morale and working experience for us all, for we have earned our title as a Firestone State Trooper and deserve a working environment with motivation to inspire us to work harder and look up to our department.
I respect everyone’s opinion on this matter and appreciate any form of feedback you may have relating to this topic. Thank you for reading and have a great day! 