Question

Well I found this site today and Im kinda at a loss for words. Ive been an officer in Washington Dc area for almost 10 years and will be moving to the area this summer and had thought about applying to FMPD however after reading the posts on here I may have to rethink that. Do you guys have anything you like about your department? If not where should I go look.

Go to Waste Management, there are problems in every agency my friend, just read about the other departments, how about our sheriff's office with their recent mafia events, wow, by the way how come you only picked FMPD coming from Washington????????Hummmm

I lived in the area when I was a kid and now want to return to raise m kids because as I remember it the schools were way better then the schools up here. Believe me I know there are bad things about every dept stuff I could tell you about my last Department would make yours look like they greatest place (Like when they installed GPS and in car cameras backwards so the camera faced you and you hade to keep it recording at all times you were in the vehicle and then turn the disk in at the end of the day so the Lt could watch what you did all day, how long you used your cell, who you talked to, if you used tobacco,the wathced the GPS and would question why you were at one place to long or why you left your district for 3 min, ect, ect,ect) . As for why I picked FMPD Its not the only place Im considering but coming from a large busy area with lots of drugs, shootings, and Gangs I dont think I can go from that to writing tickets for people not cutting the grass and having boats parked in the front yard so I figured FMPD would have enough to keep me busy. Im also looking north at Tampa but my wife really wants to live in a smaller town then that so I figured. So Im just tring to get t he best information I can before I get there and start a job and want to leave in 2 years. Ive been doing this for almost 10 and would like to stay someplace for a while so someday I may actually be able to retire. Im not looking to piss anyone off and I was not trying to Bad mouth FMPD if it came across that way Im sorry just tring to get some more info to make the best choice for me and my family.

Sorry about the spelling above I guess my coffee has not kicked in yet and I dont see how to edit once its posted

The officers and especially patrol are top notch. The main problem we have is with the admin and bosses. The union is crap and does not work hard for the officers. FMPD is a top notch active agency.....its just the politics, as you are probably familiar with. :cop:

Potential applicant, let me tell you that this is a very good agency and don't listen to all the b.s. that is talked about on this site. We get paid relatively well for the area, and most of the supervisors do not micro manage you. If you are an aggressive and experienced officer, they will let you be to work as you wish. We have a few malcontents on this site that talk crap about others, but for the most part everyone gets a long. We have a new chief who is going to do a great job in the future, and this is a good time to get into this agency. The only downfalls are that lateral and promotional opportunities are few and far between, and our union is weak. Also, in the future I can see cameras installed in every car, but they will not be pointed at your face and only activated when your top lights are on. Florida is a weak union state, and sometimes people have misconceptions about how much a union can actually do. It is worth it to join the union just for the legal representation, and other than that the union doesn't have much pull. We can use all the help we can get, and I hope that if you are as experienced as you say that you apply to our fine agency.

Cape Coral is hiring! Right across the river. They got problems too, but they seem to play nicer with their admin than we do.

Thanks I figured this site was alot like an in house training session during a break. Anytime you get a bunch of cops together in one place the complaining begins. You know what they say if nobody is upset about something then there is something very wrong. Do you guys have a ride along policy Im planning on coming down there in a few weeks to check things out and would like to try to schedule a ride along.

All the agencies down here have ride along policies, especially for prospective employees

How much OT do you guys have there?