Stations / Hours / Staffing

[Unregistered]

Are there only 46 total duty stations in the state for new officers? All being north of the state.
What are the shift hours? What is the chance of working day shift as a new officer?
What is the staffing like on the shifts? Any chance of overtime?
Looking into the department. Seriously.

[Unregistered]

Are there only 46 total duty stations in the state for new officers? All being north of the state.
What are the shift hours? What is the chance of working day shift as a new officer?
What is the staffing like on the shifts? Any chance of overtime?
Looking into the department. Seriously.

You would be placed at one of the 4 interstate locations. If you are lucky you can get a side station in a few years. And yes either at the alabama/fl line, Suwannee or st marys rivers.
We work 7 to 7 12 hour shifts (every other fri, sat, sun off) NO PERMINATE SHIFTS !!!! Those on admin shift already dont want us to have them. Staffing sucks and I mean it really sucks.
Get ready to normally work by yourself and when you are on day shift the corporal, sergant, LT, and Capt will be breating down your neck at everything you do and dont do.
OT is only given to those who kiss serious ass and are buddy buddy with the aupervison.
Would sugest to only use this place as a stepping stone and to keep you personnel file clean because if you upset a truck driver by doing your job, back up other agencies, or try to follow policy and do actual law enforcement they will and have blacked balled people and put paperwork in their files.

[Unregistered]

Thanks.
So since the shifts aren't permanent, give me an idea of what it's like...
7-7 days/nights, 12 hour shifts (Panama Shift Schedule)?

[Unregistered]

Thanks.
So since the shifts aren't permanent, give me an idea of what it's like...
7-7 days/nights, 12 hour shifts (Panama Shift Schedule)?

This was recently addressed in another thread. It hasn't changed - nothing has changed here.

[Unregistered]

Oh forgot you rotate every 28 days

[Unregistered]

What do you mean by rotate?

[Unregistered]

For 28 days you will work 7a to 7p then the next you work 7p to 7a then back to 7a to 7p for the next 28 and so on for the rest of your time in ag.

The shift cycle example is off fri, sat, sun; work mon and tues; off wed and thurs; work fri, sat, sun; off mon and tues; work wed and thurs. Then repeat another cycle. After 2 cycles you rotate shifts.

[Unregistered]

Helpful. Thanks.
How do the officers feel about the schedule?

[Unregistered]

Depended on region. About 4 to 5 years ago there was a vote to perminates or stay. 95 region was majority for perminates, pensicola was all but 1 for perminates, 75 and 10 were majority aginst. Total them all up the vote went to keep rotating. The mind blow was all but the pensicola supervision voted for the rotation and they work admin shift.

[Unregistered]

-Are there only 46 total duty stations in the state for new officers? All being north of the state.
The majority of these stations are what we call "side stations," essentially substations that report to the mother ship located on the interstate (That's where the shift sergeant and regional lieutenant/captain work at). If you work a side station you will usually work solo, and depending on the locale, occasionally back-up the SO because they're understaffed and can't afford additional deputies. As a new officer you will have FTO on the interstate. Typically an officer will apply for and get a side station after working on the interstate for a few years, but it's possible to get one sooner if the station you've applied for isn't appealing to anyone with seniority.

-What are the shift hours? What is the chance of working day shift as a new officer?
Rotating shifts every 28 days with alternating long and short weeks, 12 hours shifts, 7-7am/pm. There are pros and cons to this arrangement, but you'll probably hear more negatives than positives from officers. I'd personally rather have permanent shifts.

-What is the staffing like on the shifts? Any chance of overtime?
Shifts are usually understaffed, but that's pretty much the song every law enforcement agency. It's hard to work overtime duties when you don't have a take-home car, but working for the state means that you may have opportunities to work in jurisdictions local cops can't. For example, we've had recent deployments to South Florida for agricultural emergencies which reap in great OT. Unfortunately not all interested officers are picked to do these details, which create hurt feelings.

Bottom line, this place is what you make it. If you dwell on the negatives you will be miserable, and it will show. If you remember the positives (and they're there) you'll be happy, but it's all about what you're looking for. A lot of people start here and move on to bigger and better things, and a lot of people come back out of retirement to work here probably for the state benefits.

Hope these answers were helpful.