FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A recent union survey reveals a deep dissatisfaction among Fort Pierce police officers, with multiple officers calling for a change in leadership at the department and expressing “zero confidence” in Chief Diane Hobley-Burney.
The survey, conducted this past week with about 45 officers, overwhelmingly critiques Hobley-Burney over her lack of visibility within the department and a “hostile” work environment. Although a few officers praise the chief in the survey, an overwhelming majority of the feedback is negative.
WATCH: Majority of police union feedback is negative
“I’m not confident at all in the Chief's abilities since she is terrible at her job,” wrote one officer. “She has shown on multiple occasions that she doesn't actually know what she's talking about, likely because she spent her career at Tampa in records and doesn't actually know anything about the different aspects of law enforcement.”
VISIBILITY ISSUES
Multiple officers who responded to survey said Police Chief Diane Hobley-Burney is largely absent from the department. Police officers said she never interacted with rank-and-file officers and believed she didn’t know people’s names.
"The chief is never seen, whether it's showing up on major crime scenes, roll calls, into departments such as CID to check in on her officers,” wrote one officer. “We are a small department and we never see her, nor does she know the majority of us.”
Officers said the lack of visibility led to communication issues and a divide between command staff.
“I have been here under 2 years but there is very little direct interaction or open dialogue between her and the officers, which creates a disconnect in my opinion,” wrote one officer. "I have only seen the chief in person and that was on our sworn-in ceremony.”
Chief Hobley-Burney was marked as “busy” for an average of three hours per week day, according to her May 2024 calendar, which WPTV received from a public records request. This included her daily morning briefing, a half-hour meeting, and often a various number of community events.
Officers said the chief had a perception of having a preference for doing community events rather than activities supporting officers.
“She is never here, nothing ever gets accomplished that supports officers, when it's something geared towards the community it immediately gets done,” wrote one officer. “Everything else has so much red tape and never gets done or 'sits on her desk' then disappears when she finally returns from wherever she goes.”
WPTV asked Mayor Linda Hudson about the police chief’s lack of visibility when gun violence increased through the summer. Mayor Hudson told WPTV’s Kate Hussey she was a “working chief” in a June interview.
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“This woman works all the time,” Mayor Hudson said. “She may not be available to the media when the media wants her, but she’s working all the time.”
A spokesperson for the city, Kaitlyn Ballard, told WPTV in an email that Chief Hobley Burney's daily responsibilities go well beyond what is captured in Outlook calendar entries. She said this includes unscheduled briefings, incident response coordination, personnel oversight, community engagement, strategic planning, and direct communication with department leadership and external partners.
"Outlook calendar entries are a scheduling tool and do not fully reflect the nature of the Chief’s responsibilities," Ballard said. "During times not marked as “busy,” the Chief may be conducting internal reviews, holding impromptu staff meetings, reviewing reports and operational updates, mentoring personnel, or otherwise engaged in administrative and leadership duties necessary for the effective operation of the department."
WORKPLACE CONCERNS
Larry Croom, a former department spokesperson, said the survey reflects long-standing internal concerns, including micromanaging and morale issues. He said Hobley-Burney would bully people in meetings.
“I cant tell you how many people ended up in my office in tears,” Croom said. “…When you’re working in an environment that you fear. That doesn’t work.”
He applauded the commission for accepting Hobley-Burney’s resignation, in a 3-2 vote at special commission meeting held on Monday.
This is the second union survey that WPTV has obtained, describing problems within the Fort Pierce Police Department within a year. The last survey focused on pay along with resources like training and uniforms.
Records provided to WPTV, through a public record request fulfilled in August, show the department only performed six exit interviews over a five-year period.
Ballard said in an email the city has conducted 51 exit interviews since August 2024. She said it is now a part of the employee off boarding process.
"These interviews provide valuable feedback and are one of several tools used to assess the organizational climate and improve employee experience," she wrote in an email to WPTV.
