Collective Bargaining and Job Benefits in Florida Municipal Police Agencies, 2000-2009

While a recent analysis of unionization among Florida county sheriff deputies was informative, that study failed to provide a comprehensive picture of all law enforcement unionization activity in that state. More specifically, county sheriff offices account for only 20% of all local law enforcement agencies in the state, represent approximately half the sworn personnel in Florida, and have only been engaged in collective bargaining for the past ten years. As a result, the present study incorporates municipal police agencies, a hitherto neglected portion of the Florida law enforcement community, in an effort to gain a fuller understanding of how unionization influences salaries and other job conditions. The results underscore the importance of adopting a broader orientation to understand the progression of collective bargaining objectives

Collective Bargaining and Job Benefits: The Case of Florida Deputy Sheriffs

In 2003, the Florida Supreme Court lifted the ban that prohibited sheriff deputies from engaging in collective bargaining. Borrowing data from the Criminal Justice Agency Profile, an annual census of Florida law enforcement agencies, enables this study to entertain two questions. First, what impact did the decision have on job benefits? Second, would restricting analysis to agencies with 100+ sworn members alter the findings? Fixed-effects panel data analyses reveal a noteworthy effect on starting salaries. Focusing on just larger agencies leads to a dramatic underestimation of the decision’s impact. The timeliness of this study is appraised in light of pending federal legislation

The Diffusion of Accreditation Among Florida Police Agencies

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the adoption of state accreditation has diffused or spread among Florida municipal police law enforcement agencies. The study group consists of all municipal police departments operating continuously in the State of Florida from 1997 through 2006. Independent variables are taken from an annual survey, sponsored by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to compare agencies that became accredited (n = 81) with agencies that did not gain state accreditation (n = 189). While accredited agencies differ from non-accredited agencies on a host of indicators at the zero-order, it does not appear that the state accreditation process itself is responsible for nurturing organizational change. Having received national accreditation is an important predictor of gaining state accreditation

Collective Bargaining and Job Benefits in Florida Municipal Police Agencies, 2000-2009

While a recent analysis of unionization among Florida county sheriff deputies was informative, that study failed to provide a comprehensive picture of all law enforcement unionization activity in that state. More specifically, county sheriff offices account for only 20% of all local law enforcement agencies in the state, represent approximately half the sworn personnel in Florida, and have only been engaged in collective bargaining for the past ten years. As a result, the present study incorporates municipal police agencies, a hitherto neglected portion of the Florida law enforcement community, in an effort to gain a fuller understanding of how unionization influences salaries and other job conditions. The results underscore the importance of adopting a broader orientation to understand the progression of collective bargaining objectives

The Diffusion of Accreditation Among Florida Police Agencies

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the adoption of state accreditation has diffused or spread among Florida municipal police law enforcement agencies. The study group consists of all municipal police departments operating continuously in the State of Florida from 1997 through 2006. Independent variables are taken from an annual survey, sponsored by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to compare agencies that became accredited (n = 81) with agencies that did not gain state accreditation (n = 189). While accredited agencies differ from non-accredited agencies on a host of indicators at the zero-order, it does not appear that the state accreditation process itself is responsible for nurturing organizational change. Having received national accreditation is an important predictor of gaining state accreditation

Collective Bargaining and Job Benefits: The Case of Florida Deputy Sheriffs

In 2003, the Florida Supreme Court lifted the ban that prohibited sheriff deputies from engaging in collective bargaining. Borrowing data from the Criminal Justice Agency Profile, an annual census of Florida law enforcement agencies, enables this study to entertain two questions. First, what impact did the decision have on job benefits? Second, would restricting analysis to agencies with 100+ sworn members alter the findings? Fixed-effects panel data analyses reveal a noteworthy effect on starting salaries. Focusing on just larger agencies leads to a dramatic underestimation of the decision’s impact. The timeliness of this study is appraised in light of pending federal legislation

Police Accreditation and Clearance Rates

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether accredited police agencies display higher clearance rates than their non-accredited counterparts. The study group consists of all municipal police departments operating continuously in the State of Florida from 1997 through 2006. Independent variables capture organizational characteristics for nearly 260 agencies to determine whether becoming accredited improves clearance rates. Random-effects tobit analysis suggests that accreditation status does not affect violent and property crime clearance rates. Clearance rates are more influenced by the number of sworn personnel and law enforcement expenditures per capita. Instead of advancing the protection of local communities and bringing about meaningful organizational reform, accreditation appears to be a useful tool for bureaucrats who wish to further their own careers

Police Accreditation and Clearance Rates

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether accredited police agencies display higher clearance rates than their non-accredited counterparts. The study group consists of all municipal police departments operating continuously in the State of Florida from 1997 through 2006. Independent variables capture organizational characteristics for nearly 260 agencies to determine whether becoming accredited improves clearance rates. Random-effects tobit analysis suggests that accreditation status does not affect violent and property crime clearance rates. Clearance rates are more influenced by the number of sworn personnel and law enforcement expenditures per capita. Instead of advancing the protection of local communities and bringing about meaningful organizational reform, accreditation appears to be a useful tool for bureaucrats who wish to further their own careers

Distressed Sales and the FHFA House Price Index

Trends in residential house values can be expressed by changes in House Price Indexes (HPIs). Since the recent housing crash, distressed sales have increased in numbers and have led to concerns about how they affect HPIs. This paper has three parts. First, FHFA’s standard HPIs are compared to HPIs constructed without distressed sales. Second, FHFA’s identification of distressed sales is validated against a public data source. Third, the distressed sale discount is shown to vary across time and place. The magnitude of the discount also depends on whether the current or prior recent sales are distressed

The Role of Representative Agents in the Property Tax Appeals Process

Property tax appeals provide property owners with a mechanism to challenge their assessments and reduce their property tax bill. Appeals are frequently filed not by the homeowner but by a tax representative who often works on their behalf for a contingency fee. Using appeals from Miami-Dade County, Florida, we find that representatives have a greater presence in higher-priced neighborhoods, which makes these homeowners more likely to appeal than those in lower-priced neighborhoods, and representatives increase the percentage reduction in assessed value, but only because they increase the likelihood that appellants show up for the appeal hearings