Police Forces, Their Ranks Thin, Offer Bonuses, Bounties and More

[Mr.Melon]

Everyone's hiring except where everyone lives?! How odd!

[scarlet_tunic]

Well at least in the States, they're doing things to increase the number of officers. The RCMP here in Canada want more officers, and yet at the same time, cut back on benefits and perks. See, being that the RCMP is country-wide, members are trained in a central location (Regina, Saskatchewan), and are then posted all over the country. How they get there is on the RCMP's dime (moving costs, home selling costs, etc). Cadets in training are also taxed on training costs (what room and board would normally cost, they get a T4 for). This is all after PAYING approximately $5000 to train in the first place! This tells me, that "sure, we need more officers, but good luck in actually being able to afford to work for us". The RCMP are probably the best known police force in the world, and have the best training, which is why I'm applying in the near future.....after I win the lotto!

[Oscarsjava]

Hey, it could be worse...at least there's an abundance of job openings out west and in Florida. On Long Island, tests are once every 4 years.

[roopull]

I'm not sure of the differences in the desirability of the job, but many of the sherriff departments here in the Atlanta area are always complaining about unfilled vacancies, but I never hear of that with the local police forces. Is there a big difference from an employment point of view?

From an outsider looking in, most of the Sherriff's Depts here have unbelievably bad reputations & I think I'd rather dig ditches than work for them... Dekalb County had a candidate for Sherriff gunned down in his yard - the Sherriff at the time was accused of it & several arrests were made. Maybe a few of you remember a certain inmate killing a court clerk, judge & a couple of deputies in Fulton County, last year... Fulton County being plagued with inmates escaping from the Sherriff's jail on what seemed like a regular basis, news stories of rap videos being filmed in the jail, guards spending hours each day on porn websites... ug! Ironically, the Police Depts for those two counties have, again from an outsider's POV, excellent reputations.

Do you guys think this is just a local thing, or is this fairly widespread?

[Feisty]

I'm not sure of the differences in the desirability of the job, but many of the sherriff departments here in the Atlanta area are always complaining about unfilled vacancies, but I never hear of that with the local police forces. Is there a big difference from an employment point of view?

From an outsider looking in, most of the Sherriff's Depts here have unbelievably bad reputations & I think I'd rather dig ditches than work for them... Dekalb County had a candidate for Sherriff gunned down in his yard - the Sherriff at the time was accused of it & several arrests were made. Maybe a few of you remember a certain inmate killing a court clerk, judge & a couple of deputies in Fulton County, last year... Fulton County being plagued with inmates escaping from the Sherriff's jail on what seemed like a regular basis, news stories of rap videos being filmed in the jail, guards spending hours each day on porn websites... ug! Ironically, the Police Depts for those two counties have, again from an outsider's POV, excellent reputations.

Do you guys think this is just a local thing, or is this fairly widespread?

Thats the problem with the Liberal media these days, most of the time it is one-sided and they will pick the stories that "they" want to glorify. They predictably report it to America in their liberal view and very rarely will they take a conservative approach. Those incidents you mentioned are very isolated. You should be thankful for all of the LEO's out there putting their lives on the line to protect you and your precious family

[Dalice]

[QUOTE=roopull]I'm not sure of the differences in the desirability of the job, but many of the sherriff departments here in the Atlanta area are always complaining about unfilled vacancies, but I never hear of that with the local police forces. Is there a big difference from an employment point of view?

I worked in Georgia for three years in Metro Atlanta, Fayetteville to be exact. I think with the Sheriff's Depts. you have to do your time in the jail around there and a lot of people want to start straight on patrol. I had a couple of friends working for Fayette County SO. New hires would have to spend a few years at the jail before you could go to the academy. If you were already P.O.S.T. certified, they would put you straight on patrol, whereas like in my department, they would hire you, send you to the academy and then you would be out on the road.