some of the real problems

Some of the real problems

This is going to upset some people but the truth hurts.

Some of us are living so high on the hog that 30% over the next three years won’t do it. I can name countless guys who went out and built custom homes in gated communities, drive luxury cars, have boats and Harleys and wives who think they need $800.00 handbags.

Try living like cops and not attorneys or doctors. If anyone thinks that the taxpayers are going to feel bad for us if the city release our pay stubs you have another thing coming. Both my tax guy and stock broker could not believe what I make. We have a good number of people fooled. Everyone in the area is dealing with high taxes, health insurance and the overall rising cost of living. This is not just a Tampa cop issue.

Another problem is that we have guys would will turn down 100K a year, three on and five off, 4.0 multiplier, free life, health, dental, and car insurance for the rest of their lives along with their family members, just because they have problems with the city or someone on the PBA team. Some people will never be happy.

Stop comparing our pay with departments from other areas of the country. Plain and simple, we should be the highest paid officers in the Tampa Bay area. I don’t care what a cop in San Fran or NYC makes. I live here. I want to be paid more then HCSO, St. Pete, ect. Let’s not try to compare apples and oranges.

Could we have done better yes, is it worth the infight, no.

Another problem is that we have guys would will turn down 100K a year, three on and five off, 4.0 multiplier, free life, health, dental, and car insurance for the rest of their lives along with their family members, just because they have problems with the city or someone on the PBA team. Some people will never be happy.
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Ummm......no we don't, and if we did it wouldn't be enough to vote it down. Quite settling for mediocre when we can do better.

Some of the real problems

This is going to upset some people but the truth hurts.

Some of us are living so high on the hog that 30% over the next three years won’t do it. I can name countless guys who went out and built custom homes in gated communities, drive luxury cars, have boats and Harleys and wives who think they need $800.00 handbags.

Try living like cops and not attorneys or doctors. If anyone thinks that the taxpayers are going to feel bad for us if the city release our pay stubs you have another think coming. Both my tax guy and stock broker could not believe what I make. We have a good number of people fooled. Everyone in the area is dealing with high taxes, health insurance and the overall rising cost of living. This is not just a Tampa cop issue.


At last a Voice of Sanity.

Unfortunately, you will be either ignored or villified for your position.

The truth hurts!

:!:

[quote="CD-R 50PK":4d5s9wtq]Some of the real problems

This is going to upset some people but the truth hurts.

Some of us are living so high on the hog that 30% over the next three years won’t do it. I can name countless guys who went out and built custom homes in gated communities, drive luxury cars, have boats and Harleys and wives who think they need $800.00 handbags.

Try living like cops and not attorneys or doctors. If anyone thinks that the taxpayers are going to feel bad for us if the city release our pay stubs you have another think coming. Both my tax guy and stock broker could not believe what I make. We have a good number of people fooled. Everyone in the area is dealing with high taxes, health insurance and the overall rising cost of living. This is not just a Tampa cop issue.


At last a Voice of Sanity.

Unfortunately, you will be either ignored or villified for your position.

The truth hurts!

:!:[/quote:4d5s9wtq]


No, but be realistic.....are attorneys REALLY as important to society as police officers?? If you were starting a town, would you rather have a shortage of cops or lawyers??? I thought so....

Last I checked cops and lawyers were not anywhere near comparable in their "professions". Sure, police work is a "profession", but so is being a sandwich maker. The difference is police work is AND ALWAYS WILL BE a blue collar job and lawyers NEVER HAVE AND NEVER WILL BE a blue collar job.

It's time to face the cold hard truth, if you wear a nametag on your shirt, you are not in the same league as an attorney. Sure, some agencies have increased their hiring standards, but as long as the law allows anyone with a little $$$ to enter the academy, WITHOUT COLLEGE, this will never be anything more than a blue collar job (with pretty good pay and benefits I might add). By the way, does the term "public servant" mean anything to you? Remember the old "Protect and Serve" motto, it's a shame that it has changed to "Collect and Serve". I recognize that we are not required to take a vow of poverty like a priest, but now you can't really call $74,000 a year "poverty" can you?

I recognize that we are not required to take a vow of poverty like a priest, but now you can't really call $74,000 a year "poverty" can you?


Which of the guys that have come on in the past 8 years are making 74K? Hmmmm? Our new guys make low 40's, cut the propoganda.

1st, you can not compare pay for COPS to any other profession in the private sector. If you expect (want) to get that much money then go into a job that pays that ammount. There are not very many TAX based pay scales that pay anywhere near that ammount no matter what the job.

My take on the MPO stripe; This goes hand in hand with the attempt at a 3 year shift bid. The PBA made it clear (at the meeting) that it has never happened in the past that anyone has lost that stripe or pay. And that it would take alot of advanced notice to the MPO to get his / her act together before any attempt would be made to "demote" or reduce in pay grade for sub-standard ratings. If that extended shift bid had remained in place, then enough time would have been created for those "warnings" to be served.

I know the increase in shift bid was taken off the table, however, keep your eyes open in the next one, it might raise its head again now that the MPO can be screwed with....

Dear silly blue collar citizen. If police pay is so high, how come police departments nationwide have troulble recruiting and retaining qualified applicants. THE TAMPA POLICE DEPARTMENT IS NO EXCEPTION. Go talk to the personnel department and they will tell you they are begging for people but have to disqualify the vast majority.

The city of Tampa is continuously accepting applications for the position of police officer, starting salary 40,456.00. If it is so great, please apply. We definitely need more officers on the street. And I'm not talking about additional officers, which we also need, I'm talking about filling the zones now. Most squads are short 3 to 4 people.

Current top pay is 65,728.00. That's after 10 years of service. During those first 10 years you will work midnights in Ybor city or the hood. You will get into fights, deal with countless drunks, be asked to solve all of societies ills, may get shot at, will receive no recognition, and when you demand a decent contract, you will be labeled greedy.

Majors received 4950.00 as a bonus. That's 7.5% of top pay. It's only fair that we receive at least that amount.

After this garbage contract is overwhelmingly voted down, the union needs to reintroduce their original proposal or 7.5, 6.5, 6. and stand their ground.

FOR THOSE THAT STILL HAVE NOT VOTED, VOTE NO!

"Which of the guys that have come on in the past 8 years are making 74K? Hmmmm? Our new guys make low 40's, cut the propoganda".



Have you heard of the stages of life, when I came on I did not make what I make now, I lived in an apartment and drove a cheap truck. As I put my years in I made more money and bought a house. Its called starting out on the bottom, then moving up. Thats the problem with the new cops, they want to start out making MPO pay, live in a big house in Fish Hawk Ranch, drive a 40,000 car and be Sgt before they make step 3.

"Which of the guys that have come on in the past 8 years are making 74K? Hmmmm? Our new guys make low 40's, cut the propoganda".



Have you heard of the stages of life, when I came on I did not make what I make now, I lived in an apartment and drove a cheap truck. As I put my years in I made more money and bought a house. Its called starting out on the bottom, then moving up. Thats the problem with the new cops, they want to start out making MPO pay, live in a big house in Fish Hawk Ranch, drive a 40,000 car and be Sgt before they make step 3.


My point is this, don't say we make 74k, when the majority of us don't. It's no more accurate than me running around saying "Under this raise we'll be making 41k"

"Which of the guys that have come on in the past 8 years are making 74K? Hmmmm? Our new guys make low 40's, cut the propoganda".



Have you heard of the stages of life, when I came on I did not make what I make now, I lived in an apartment and drove a cheap truck. As I put my years in I made more money and bought a house. Its called starting out on the bottom, then moving up. Thats the problem with the new cops, they want to start out making MPO pay, live in a big house in Fish Hawk Ranch, drive a 40,000 car and be Sgt before they make step 3.


My point is this, don't say we make 74k, when the majority of us don't. It's no more accurate than me running around saying "Under this raise we'll be making 41k"

I am sorry some of the newer officers are making just over 41K a year. It is called paying your dues and starting out. It is something a lot of the officers who are under thirty and just walked of college do not understand. We all know that with just a few hours a week, you can bring in 10K a year in off duty if you need extra cash. You would be very hard pressed to find an officer that just made the bottom base pay this year.

I am sorry some of the newer officers are making just over 41K a year. It is called paying your dues and starting out. It is something a lot of the officers who are under thirty and just walked of college do not understand. We all know that with just a few hours a week, you can bring in 10K a year in off duty if you need extra cash. You would be very hard pressed to find an officer that just made the bottom base pay this year.

Quite honestly, if the department wants to compete with the private sector, they need to raise the starting salary. There is a nationwide shortage of QUALIFIED police applicants and TPD is no exception. Over the past month, we've lost three rookies in the FTO program. That shows that some of the people we're hiring just aren't cutting it. While that happens no matter what the salary is, we're losing qualified applicants to corporate America and the federal government because they pay better, have better overall benefits, and don't have the risks and liabilities that other jobs have.

It used to be that people coming out of the military would flock to LE jobs. Nowdays, the highly qualified ones can get jobs with private government contractors making six figure incomes. They can get jobs with federal agencies that want the military experience and have more career mobility than we have at TPD. We still get military applicants, but everyone who has ever been in the service knows, many soldiers/sailors/Marines aren't the sharpest tools in the shed and won't necessarily make good cops.

On the other side of things, there are those coming right out of college. Several years ago when times were tough and corporate America was laying people off, LE agencies got some highly qualified applicants right out of college. Now that corporate America's hiring has sped back up, the most qualified college grads are having bonuses and promises of big bucks waved in their faces. They're taking the corporate jobs.

That leaves law enforcement, even an agency that has as good of a salary as TPD, with the people who can't get one of those good jobs. If we want to attract the best applicants out there, we need to pay new hires well. I'm not saying that they should make more than an MPO, but I'm saying that 40K per year won't cut it either. TPD isn't even getting the numbers from other agencies that we used to get, such as St. Pete. I think it's been a year or two since someone came over from SPPD, and we all know how many used to make the switch. That should tell everyone something right there.

I don't know how the hiring practice was when any of you came on, but when I came on I had to write an essay stating realistically why I should be considered for the position. My reasons were not for the money, just as teachers, nurses, doctors and so on, most do not chose their professions for such selfish reasons. Though the money was nice, that was not my reason for wanting to be a cop. Nor was my reason so that I could have power and authority! How anyone can complain about their starting pay amazes me. Just as you knew when you applied and got hired, that the job was shift work and you would be on mids for the greater part of your first ten years, you also knew what your pay was going to be, and some people around here don't deserve half what their making. I don't want to compare apples to oranges here, but maybe those of you who think that theres better pay elsewhere need to apply and move forward, use those degrees you have "EARNED" and seek employment outside the department. We have an officer (formally a Corporal, in less then ten years on the department) who recently returned from the private sector, who had a "WONDERFUL" opportunity in the private sector, making six digits (so the rumor was). But wait that officer is back at TPD, guess the grass wasn't so green on the other side of that hill! So for those of you who think you have it and can do better, I wish you the best of luck in your future careers, and should they not pan out, then I hope the Cheif can find it in his heart to make you a rehire when you come crawling back, because you couldn't cut it in the private sector.
By the way, before you start assuming that the professions or employers you are comparing us with make more or have better opportunities, do your research. Your very mistaken in your statements, and many of those professions require more than 60 credits to be in them make less then we do. I have done my homework and know.
Good luck to all, and lets get this contract negotians settled and put into effect. WE CAN PLEASE SOME OF THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME, BUT WE WILL NEVER PLEASE ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME AND UNFORTUNATE BUT TRUE, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMEONE WHO WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO PLEASE!!!

The shortage of police officers applying is not because of the pay. It's because of our "standards". Even in the private sector, our starting salary through topped out salary competes well with most other respectable career choices. Short of high level execs, Drs, lawyers and the like...please.

Our Salary IS high, compared. Most of us love our jobs. Day to Day, we are VERY well paid. However, it only takes a few seconds of a hot call, to be underpaid.

If you want a travesty, think of our brothers and sisters overseas in the desert...now thats underpaid....

We have hired St Pete cops recently and have more on the way. There are plenty of people wanting to come to Tampa, there isn't a shortage that I know of. The standards are fine. I don't want to work with people that did every drug imaginable before they came here, or stole their previous employers blind.