A Few Questions

I am a Florida leo looking to relocate to the Ocala area, and have a few questions regarding your department. Retirement % at what years, pay, detail oppurtunities, overtime oppurtunities, take home car, support of administration, advancement oppurtunities, is there a step plan, tuition reimbursement, does the administration value education, is it difficult to get approved for salary incentive courses, and is Ocala PD feeling the effects of the economy or are ya'll still business as usual?


Any input on these questions will be greatly appreciated.

As far as retirement goes, right now it is great. We have a 3.33% multiplier times how many years you worked. Then they take that % of your highest 5 years. HOWEVER, our new city manager, Slick Rick Horst, is looking to do away with that. They are looking at a 2.5% multiplier or making people that are not vested (10 years) go to a 401k. It is a big mess right now.

The pay sucks. Don't expect a take home car, no matter where you live. We have a lot of the same problems that every agency in Florida is facing. Cutting back on benefits. We are not getting raises or COLA this year, however Orlando PD is, but they are looking at losing their take home cars or having to pay more to take them home if they live outside of the city.

My only suggestion I can give you is to come up here and ride with someone that has been here more than 5 years so that you can really see how things are going.

I love working for OPD, but I don't let the politics get to me.

I did not cover a few topics. Details are paid out at 45 an hour, but they are hard to come by. People sit at their computer all day long just hitting refresh waiting for the details to come out. Overtime is getting cut back. If we get called by the PD on our time off it is 3 hours minimum OT and court and depos are 2 hours. If you want to go to salary incentive training and you are scheduled to work, then you have to use vacation time to go. There is tuition reimbursement, but they are very picky with it and havn't been giving a lot of it up, even though administration does value education.

We had a step plan going. The union screwed a few officers on the deal because certain officers were making too much money for how long they had been on the road. No matter where they came from in the city or department. The reason the step plan isn't going right now is because of the lack of raises and the new city manager.

Advancement oppurtunities come up, but they take time. The people in special units or investigations don't plan on leaving anytime soon unless a new position comes open or they promote. We will have some opening over the next couple of years because of retirements.

Go to MCSO and don't look back. These are some of the darkest days that I have ever seen at OPD. Although I do think they can change, I don't think it will be any time soon.

A good police officer just left to go back home is Pasco County. There were several reasons why he left, but most importantly to be with and closer to family. When he was asked if he wanted an exit interview, he said yes. No one from the chief's office ever got back with him. He left without the interview. What message does that send......a very clear one!

It's not just the department like to other poster said. Our new city manager is trying to take benifits away as well. To be honest, there are so many departments that offer so much more, look into them first. Ocala seems to be the final stop for a lot of people that have troubles getting on somewhere else. If your not from Ocala there are better places to go. Gainesville has betterworking conditions, twice the overtime we have, and a much higher starting pay. Just do your researce first thats all.