Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

I'm interested it lateraling to a Florida Department. The places that I have looked at online are Hillsborough S.O. Tampa, Boca Riton, Fort Lauderdale and other depts. and S.O.'s in those areas. I'm looking for someone who works in FL for some input on those departments or possibly a place that I would overlook. I'm looking for good morale, good benefits, decent pay, fair cost of living, ect. Thanks

I'm interested it lateraling to a Florida Department. The places that I have looked at online are Hillsborough S.O. Tampa, Boca Riton, Fort Lauderdale and other depts. and S.O.'s in those areas. I'm looking for someone who works in FL for some input on those departments or possibly a place that I would overlook. I'm looking for good morale, good benefits, decent pay, fair cost of living, ect. Thanks

If a few boneheads have their way; there should be approximately 3500 openings with the Hillsborough S.O. in the near future. :rolleyes:

Also look for good Core Values, Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct as these are apparently severely lacking in at least one Florida agency. :rolleyes:

Okay, frustrated sarcasm set aside; good luck with your endeavor. I cannot answer your questions as I do not work in this area. :o

(Yes, Mods, I will tone it down a bit, sorry.)

Tampa PD is the best out of all of those when pay and benefits are considered. The cost of living in the TB area is a lot lower than in Broward or Palm Beach Counties. Although there are some nice parts of South Florida (Boca being one), the cost of real estate in those areas is outrageous. Most other parts of South Florida are crowded and crime ridden. We've been getting some officers leave departments down there and coming up here.

While TPD is the best in the Bay area (all things considered), you could also look at Temple Terrace PD. They're a smaller department in a middle class community and have an excellent pension with salaries that are almost comparable to Tampa. I'd avoid Hillsborough SO right now. They're undergoing lots of internal turmoil, trying to decertify their union, and some other stuff. Pinellas SO is a good agency, but their pay isn't on par with Tampa.

If you haven't, go to www.leoaffairs.com and read some of the messages on the various agency message boards. Keep in mind that lots of it is a bunch of disgruntled malcontents, but you can still get a feel of some of the issues at the departments along with some decent advice.

I would advise you that which ever agency you choose, that you go ahead and get your FL certification if you don't already have it. No agency will help you with that aside from pointing you in the direction of the community colleges that offer the comparative compliance academy. Having that certification is something that's required to apply at most places.

I have about three years experience in a big city up norht.......will i have to go to another academy or just a lateral transition class at Tampa? What would I expect my salary to be year 1 and around year 5 with OT not counting extra jobs? How expensive is the housing market?

I have about three years experience in a big city up norht.......will i have to go to another academy or just a lateral transition class at Tampa? What would I expect my salary to be year 1 and around year 5 with OT not counting extra jobs? How expensive is the housing market?

Right now a new officer with three years of experience would start at a base salary of $50,585. After five years it would be $63,294. MPO is achieved after ten years and is currently $75,358. And again, that's just base salary without stuff like incentive pay, shift pay, longevity pay, or any type of specialty pay thrown in. That will usually equate to anywhere from $1,500-$4,500 per year. Court overtime is paid at a minimum of three hours, and that's pretty much all the overtime that exists here. If you go to court an average of one day a week you'll be making about $5,000 per year in overtime. The amount of court you get will obviously depend on the amount of work you do. Extra jobs are paid at anywhere from $32-$45 per hour and there's as much of that as you want.

In order to get your Florida certification, you have to go through a two week course at one of the community colleges. There should be information on that somewhere on the FDLE's website.

Tampa PD is the best out of all of those when pay and benefits are considered. The cost of living in the TB area is a lot lower than in Broward or Palm Beach Counties. Although there are some nice parts of South Florida (Boca being one), the cost of real estate in those areas is outrageous. Most other parts of South Florida are crowded and crime ridden. We've been getting some officers leave departments down there and coming up here.

While TPD is the best in the Bay area (all things considered), you could also look at Temple Terrace PD. They're a smaller department in a middle class community and have an excellent pension with salaries that are almost comparable to Tampa. I'd avoid Hillsborough SO right now. They're undergoing lots of internal turmoil, trying to decertify their union, and some other stuff. Pinellas SO is a good agency, but their pay isn't on par with Tampa.

If you haven't, go to www.leoaffairs.com and read some of the messages on the various agency message boards. Keep in mind that lots of it is a bunch of disgruntled malcontents, but you can still get a feel of some of the issues at the departments along with some decent advice.

I would advise you that which ever agency you choose, that you go ahead and get your FL certification if you don't already have it. No agency will help you with that aside from pointing you in the direction of the community colleges that offer the comparative compliance academy. Having that certification is something that's required to apply at most places.

Bit off topic...

But, I went to that site, and looked up my agency, and go back to it quite often and I have to agree with you. There are a LOT of whiners on those boards. Just extremely unhappy, angry people.

Does tampa have take homes?

Yes, and you can take them to any of the counties that border Hillsborough.

Tampa works 11.5 hr shifts 4on4 off.....is what i was told.....and hillsborough is 12 hrs?