dep. chief position

I recently retired from a large agency and was thinking about applying for the open deputy chiefs position, anyone want to give me the pros and cons? It would mean a relocation for me but I live a few counties south so it is not a big deal. I know what it is like when an outsider comes in but sometimes a fresh pair of eyes is good, just wondering if I should bother, your agency seems to have many complementary things said about it and for that you should all be proud. PS, being a cop gives you the god given right to complain, but your's is minimal.......

that's because they're too busy to complain... just joking. Ft Pierce has a high crime rate and is often referred to as a small city with a lot of big city problems. It seems to have calmed down a little in recent years but the department faces it's fair share of problems. They have a tremendous group of people working there but have also had more than their share of bad apples. They try to do a great job of weeding them out but until some recent changes, the low pay made it difficult to attract and retain qualified officers. I was an officer there for several years and started with 3 other great cops. I was the last one of the 4 to leave; the main complaint being pay issues. It's a great department and a rookie officer would gain a great deal of experience in only a short time but many would leave for higher paying departments. It's hard to compete with departments down south that offer 20-30% more in base pay with a step plan that further increases the disparity. The city doesn't have a great tax base and there is not much of a local economy to support a large city budget but the department does a great job with what they have.
The command staff is great and I would jump at the chance to work with any one of them again. As with any department, there may be some that don't agree with all the decisions made by the command staff and they probably have a different perspective than I do. If you are looking for an easy retirement job, this probably isn't the right job for you. If you are an experienced leader looking to stay in law enforcement working with real life day to day issues, I would encourage you to research the city (ie demographic, crime rate, economic factors) and the department prior to making any decisions and if it looks right for you, go for it.

I recently retired from a large agency and was thinking about applying for the open deputy chiefs position, anyone want to give me the pros and cons? It would mean a relocation for me but I live a few counties south so it is not a big deal. I know what it is like when an outsider comes in but sometimes a fresh pair of eyes is good, just wondering if I should bother, your agency seems to have many complementary things said about it and for that you should all be proud. PS, being a cop gives you the god given right to complain, but your's is minimal.......

Hmm a few counties south of us. Do you know where Ft, Myers is located. Last I checked there is only 2 counties south of us then in your in Cuban waters.

Well maybe you need to go back to geography class because I count 5 counties that are south of you. I'll start from north to south so I don't confuse you: Martin County, Palm Beach County, Broward County, Dade County, Monroe County. You must be a Westwood Graduate!!!