Favorable Police Departments in Texas.

[sports2398]

Im possibly relocated to Texas, more specifically Dallas police and would like to know Dallas P.D. rates in comparison to other departments in the area? Thanks in advance.

[P01IC3M4N]

dallas is the farm team for suburban departments like plano, addison, and garland. they pay half as much, the equipment is half as good, the morale is 1/4 of suburban depts., the list goes on.

dallas is not exactly where i'd want to be working right now. they have a lot of issues with the city council. they have 4 officers on medical leave from being shot and they have no income other than what a dairy company has offered to donate. how's that for the city backing its officers?

[oscarmitre]

It's a few years since I was in Texas and things might have changed a lot since 1996 but it was suggested to me by some friends there that San Antonio at that time was doing well by its officers. As I said though, things can change quickly. Why not check in with CLEAT at http://cleat,org and see if they have any info on their site that can help?

[jaunt10]

Go for it! there are some folks that will give you BS since they dont work for a REAL Texas Police Dept. Wherever you go it will be awesome and dont give up if it doenst work for you. Keep trying...it never hurts to try. I've heard some bad things about the Dallas PD and others like Forth Worth PD but I can tell you good cops make the world and if you can come into a department and help it it will mean the world to those of us that dont work in law enforcement. Good luck and I hope you pull through!

[cecilVA]

San Antonio is a good dept (grew up there) however their pay leaves a little to be desired. Thankfully SA is a fairly inexpensive town to live in, but it is a great city. Austin is pretty good, but I heard you have to pay your own medical, not sure if thats true. Above post is correct, suburbs in DFW pay the best and are the most popular, especially Plano. Lubbock is good if you don't mind living in Lubbock. EVERYBODY gets take home cars and their pay is good considering its pretty cheap to live in Lubbock.

[P01IC3M4N]

It's a few years since I was in Texas and things might have changed a lot since 1996 but it was suggested to me by some friends there that San Antonio at that time was doing well by its officers. As I said though, things can change quickly. Why not check in with CLEAT at http://cleat,org and see if they have any info on their site that can help?

san antonio would be a good choice. i recently went to school with several of their officers. they are happy with their job and the complaints are minimal. one officer in that class had been there over 30 years and he doesn't want to retire anytime soon. that should tell you something.

stay out of austin. that town is too liberal. every mistake will be blown out of context. they're having a serious black/white issue right now.

houston isn't bad, but they've made some big mistakes recently that lead to the firing of several officers. if you want to make any kind of money, you're going to have to stay out of the big departments. in the area i work, agencies are paying as much as $60K a year in the first few years while the big agencies are still paying low to mid $40Ks.

always look at the benefits package. some agencies offer 3to1 retirement while many offer just 2to1. if you have a degree, i'd try arlington. if you wanna rock and roll everyday, go to grand prairie.

[camorgan]

Closer to Dallas, on the other end of the Metroplex, the City of Hurst is good frmo what I hear. The work you, but they pay well (not sure what numbers, but firefighters start at $50K)

[P01IC3M4N]

Closer to Dallas, on the other end of the Metroplex, the City of Hurst is good frmo what I hear. The work you, but they pay well (not sure what numbers, but firefighters start at $50K)

a 3 year officer makes $53K. they don't work you that bad. their equipment isn't as good as other agencies, but they pay well. they just went back to 8 hour shifts from 12s. their guys aren't happy about it. i like working with hurst officers.

[kariya_the_dog]

there are generally smaller departments within bigger cities.
i know houston has metro police. everyone thinks the metro pd is just for the metro transit authority (like the buses), but it's not. they can write you a ticket just as well as an hpd cop and do various of other things like a normal cop. i don't *think* their jurisdiction is as big, but i honestly don't know.
granted, i'm not sure if dallas has something like that, but it's something you could look into.

[Lfpdlieu302]

San Antonio is a good dept (grew up there) however their pay leaves a little to be desired. Thankfully SA is a fairly inexpensive town to live in, but it is a great city. Austin is pretty good, but I heard you have to pay your own medical, not sure if thats true. Above post is correct, suburbs in DFW pay the best and are the most popular, especially Plano. Lubbock is good if you don't mind living in Lubbock. EVERYBODY gets take home cars and their pay is good considering its pretty cheap to live in Lubbock.

i grew up in san antonio too!! lol! where did you go to school?

[camorgan]

a 3 year officer makes $53K. they don't work you that bad. their equipment isn't as good as other agencies, but they pay well. they just went back to 8 hour shifts from 12s. their guys aren't happy about it. i like working with hurst officers.

That sounds good then. I've got a friend who is a Lt on with the firedepartment keeping an eye there for me. I plan to apply as soon as they have an opening, though I'm not waiting around. I believe they just brought in a fair share of recruits.

[cecilVA]

Randolph High School, on Randolph AFB, what about you?

[jaunt10]

good to see some born Texans on this thread. Wasnt born in SA but I love going there when I can.

[Lfpdlieu302]

Randolph High School, on Randolph AFB, what about you?

hahahahahaha!! randolph! lol, just kidding! i went to Clark baby!

[cecilVA]

No kidding? My dad just retired from Judson as a teacher. Oh I wasn't born in SA, air force put us there when I was in 8th grade. But as they say, I wasn't born in Texas, but I got there as fast as I could!