hiring experienced leo's

I noticed your agency hired several of our officers recently including ones with over 10 years experience. In the past, it seemed you were primarily hiring either minorities or leo's with little experience. Is this a recent hiring trend?

yes

no its not..... TPD has always tried to hire experience officers. The only time they dont is when they geT fed/state money to sponsor people.. But seeing as how they are only going to be hiring only about 40 for the whole year you might wanna have x-perience and then some............Turn over rate here is very low for now............

Over the last few years I have noticed many officers who have come from other agencies. Only about 75 have made a contribution to the Tampa Police Department. In fact the reason why it is one the best agencies in the southern United States is because of these officers.

The rest, to be blunt "suck". They were bad cops, with bad attitudes and could'nt make it at small agencies. The small agencies were able to monitor their performance alot closer than a large agengy like TPD. It is easy to hide in a large agency that has union representation (unlike the agencies these officers came from). The personnel divison has failed to "check - up" on the applicants and we are getting stuck with other agencies trash.

How do you keep up being so perfect on a daily basis. You sound like someone who didn't get hired here and are not a real TPD officer. I can say that because I am one and know that most officers that are hired from other agencies are good people and police officers. Why don't you just take yourself to personnel and learn about the process and offer them some advice on how to better "check up" on their applicants. I'm sure they would love to hear from you. I believe most of them have some time on and would like for you to enlighten them on how it should be.

Well, I'm a T.P.D. officer, and have been one for over ten years. I have to agree somewhat with what is being said. I have noticed that a lot of the people that are being hired from other agencies, have joined the R.O.D.A.'s (retired on duty association) of this department, and don't want to do shit, except collect a paycheck. Another portion of the people that are being hired, have no clue as to what police work is all about. They just join because it pays well and the job security. The oath is not in their hearts and mind.

And before you start with the " o.k., Mr. perfect bla, bla, bla." No, I am not perfect. But I can tell you that unlike a lot of the new hires, I live by the oath. I come to work and I take my dispatch calls, I look for perps, I get into car chases, and I am not afraid of getting out of my car to chase people. I do this job because I want to make a difference, I want to make the community safer. I do not do it for the department, I do not do it because I want to get promoted, I do it because I care, because I have work ethic, and because I am a cop. No, I am not a die hard, 24 hour cop. I do not work extra duty, and I enjoy my time off!

I hear it all the time, I am not going to chase no drug dealer over a dime bag, I do not want to get hurt, bla, bla, bla. Well then, go do something else. I, along with the other officers that work on this department, have sustained injuries. Broken fingers, lacerations, injured back, broken ribs, some have been shot and lived, and others have not. Guess what, it comes with the job!

These new era Law Enforcement Officers, with their manicured hair and hands, make me sick. Grow a set of balls and be a COP!

Disclaimer: There are some new hires that are cops, and understand what I am saying.

Lets hear it for the Cheeseball!! GEt over yourself. Walk into a roll call room and start spoutin' how you make a difference chasing down pookie for a dime bag and see how many people bust a gut laughin. Then tell them to stop laughing cause your standing behind your oath. RRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIGHT!!!!! And your a ten year cop??? Sure you are!!! And who chases "perps" anyway???

I was just saying he/she should not make blanket statements about all officers at are department that came from some where else. I agree with most of what you said. It is has to be in you to begin with, to excel at this job. Most people that come here for benfits only, shouldn't be here. There is much more importance to the uniform than the paycheck. It has nothing to do with where they come from, it is them personally. It has nothing to do with personnel not doing their jobs, it has to do with the individual. Unfortunately the trend now a days isn't about the oath, the badge or the uniform.

This is in response to the poster who thinks personnel fails to do the proper check ups. You have no idea what goes into to doing a background investigation or you wouldn't have made that remark. Just so you are aware of it, if an officer "can't make it" at a smaller agency, they generally have problems that are pretty noticeable. If there are problems of that nature they don't get hired. Why don't you come on up to the 5th floor and let one of us show you how we do it so you can rest easy that we aren't failing to do anything. We're there monday through Friday 7-5.

Lets hear it for the Cheeseball!! GEt over yourself. Walk into a roll call room and start spoutin' how you make a difference chasing down pookie for a dime bag and see how many people bust a gut laughin. Then tell them to stop laughing cause your standing behind your oath. RRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIGHT!!!!! And your a ten year cop??? Sure you are!!! And who chases "perps" anyway???

Like I said, by no means am I perfect. The thread is not about being perfect or making mistake, its about doing your job. I gave several examples about police work. But lets focus on the drug dealer. I have personally heard people say that if someone runs from them (i.e. a s39 dealer) they will not chase them because its not worth it, they don't want to get hurt, etc, etc. Well fighting drugs is part of our job, and if you are not willing to chase them because you don't want to brake a nail, then you don't belong in law enforcement. Those people that would laugh, as you stated, are the ones that I am talking about. And , if you have been around for a while, you know that the s39 dealer might just have a dime bag or he might also have a gun, a warrant, etc. etc. That is why you chase them, its not about the dime bag.

Yes, I have over ten years of service, and very proud about the fact that I go to work everyday and work my ass off. I am not one of these guys that gets the m.p.o. stripe on their shirt and state "Been there done that, let the rookie do it now." Yes they need to learn how to do the job, but that doesn't mean that we can dump everything on them.

I'm sorry that I confused you with the word "perp" (northern term from the word perpetrator). How about these: suspect, defendant, still to hard. Let me bring it down to a level that you might understand, the bad guy! :lol: