Civil Service vs At Will Police Depts

[spitfire]

What are the differences between civil service & at will police departments? I'm about to be picked up by a police department in Texas and I'm just wondering about the pro's and cons.

[spitfire]

Just to clarify, I want to know the advantages of working for a civil service dept. as opposed to an at will dept. I've heard different things and was just wondering about other folk's opinions. Thanks...

[Gooch]

in a nutshell, a department that uses a civil service process has police officers that are usually represented by a union. The union is reponsible for negotiating a contract with city, town, village, or university regarding the police officers rate of pay and increases, benefits, grievance processes, retirement plan, etc. With a union, you have to pay your membership dues and have representatives from the ranks. Nothing changes without an appoved contract. In an "at will" setting, there usually is no union so the city, town, or university has total control and can change things as they see fit. It can be a plus for the city but the average officer has no voice or recourse.

[oscarmitre]

If you're about to work in a dept in Tx check it would be a good idea to check with CLEAT http://www.cleat.org or TMPA http://www.tmpa.org


As I understand it in Texas some depts have collective bargaining rights and protections and some are at will, I believe that state legislation allows the local community to ballot on the right to collective bargaining and associated protections for emergency service employees.

[spitfire]

Thanks for the input. Much appreciated...

[retdetsgt]

If you're good at butt kissing, an at will dept will send you right up the ranks. Civil service has a lot of drawbacks, but a good one will at least make sure that most people who get promoted have a minimal degree of competency.

Our S.O. used to be at will and all the drinking buddies of the sheriff were promoted and a lot of good deputies stayed at the bottom because they weren't "popular" for whatever reason.

Mine has always been civil service with all the protections. It ain't perfect and a lot of dips still get promoted and now and then some person who should be fired gets his/her job saved on a technicality. But overall, I'd much rather spend my career not worried too much that I'm gonna piss off some Lt. and he take it personally.

[spitfire]

Thanks retdetsgt. What are some of the protections involved with a civil service employer?

[SeVere]

Hearings, a grievance procedure, and a contract are a few.