Is FHP "that" bad

[Unregistered]

Although I currently live in Michigan, I was going to attend MSP academy after separating from the military but was accepted to U on M and wanted a degree. Anyways long story short I finish my degree in March and will be moving to FL in the summer as at this point in time I'm done with the snow and 19 degree winters. FHP caught my attention but after doing a little research and then coming to these boards I'm not sure if that's the right one. As cliche as it sounds I'm of the mindset it's all about how you approach things in life and the attitude you have going into those things...having said that when 9 of 10 topics are just clowning FHP I start to second guess myself. When I read posts of troopers or what appears to be troopers sandbag their own department on pay, shortage of personnel and lack of respect through other agencies and the community It's difficult not to take into consideration. Furthermore, it's tiring trying to weed out the trolling comments from the genuine ones, sometimes I read comments and then ask myself "It sounds like this person hates life, why are you even here" but who knows maybe they come here to vent, wife cheated on them, suck at there job, LT took there jelly doughnut, I don't know so I try and give them the benefit of the doubt.

So my questions are if you were in my position, not knowing much of the state but open to going anywhere is there a certain department/agency doesnt have to be FHP that peaks your interest (Pretend your single with no family in FL) that perhaps you've heard many good things about if so which. Also, like my topic says is FHP that bad, it sounds like the peak is an anthill and the valley is marianas trench but is this true or are they going through a rough patch at the moment Ive read the "Troopers leaving Pensacola post" but one can assume that those spots will be filled or perhaps not? where do you see FHP in 5 to 10 years? Any advice or question I should consider when making a decision would help

I appreciate your time

[Unregistered]

Although I currently live in Michigan, I was going to attend MSP academy after separating from the military but was accepted to U on M and wanted a degree. Anyways long story short I finish my degree in March and will be moving to FL in the summer as at this point in time I'm done with the snow and 19 degree winters. FHP caught my attention but after doing a little research and then coming to these boards I'm not sure if that's the right one. As cliche as it sounds I'm of the mindset it's all about how you approach things in life and the attitude you have going into those things...having said that when 9 of 10 topics are just clowning FHP I start to second guess myself. When I read posts of troopers or what appears to be troopers sandbag their own department on pay, shortage of personnel and lack of respect through other agencies and the community It's difficult not to take into consideration. Furthermore, it's tiring trying to weed out the trolling comments from the genuine ones, sometimes I read comments and then ask myself "It sounds like this person hates life, why are you even here" but who knows maybe they come here to vent, wife cheated on them, suck at there job, LT took there jelly doughnut, I don't know so I try and give them the benefit of the doubt.

So my questions are if you were in my position, not knowing much of the state but open to going anywhere is there a certain department/agency doesnt have to be FHP that peaks your interest (Pretend your single with no family in FL) that perhaps you've heard many good things about if so which. Also, like my topic says is FHP that bad, it sounds like the peak is an anthill and the valley is marianas trench but is this true or are they going through a rough patch at the moment Ive read the "Troopers leaving Pensacola post" but one can assume that those spots will be filled or perhaps not? where do you see FHP in 5 to 10 years? Any advice or question I should consider when making a decision would help

I appreciate your time

Let me preface this by saying that I don't work for FHP. I am retired and have done time with a PD and a SO. I view quite a few of these boards and think I can offer you some insight.

To start with, if you read enough of the message boards for the different agencies on here, especially the active ones, you will find a lot of similar attitudes and posts on each of the boards. Cops tend to come to these boards to vent and get things off of their chest. Whether it be about their zone partner, pay, or their department.

The biggest issue right now facing FHP is the low pay, which by the way they just got a raise and expect to get another one next year, but it's not guaranteed, and the high turnover/lack of troopers on the road. You don't get into law enforcement to get rich, but you want to be able to feed yourself and your family if you have one. There are many departments in Florida that pay better than FHP and have a better retirement also.

FHP's core mission is traffic. Some of the larger PDs and SOs have traffic units as well. It probably takes years to get into these units if you ever can. But they also have many other specialized units that FHP doesn't have. Granted FHP has some specialized units, but not like the larger PDs and SOs.

You really have a lot of things to consider. You have to decide what you really want to do and how important money is to you. How important is a retirement to you. Some places have 20 years, some 25, some 30.

Come down here, do ride a alongs with FHP and some PDs and SOs and see what you like the best. Do some research and see what departments might offer in the way of money, retirement, specialty units, training, and anything else that might interest you.

Now to answer your question title question. Is FHP "that" bad? It depends on who you ask. Everyone has their own opinion. Many troopers will tell you that yes it is, but many troopers will tell you that it is not. You have to really do more research and judge for yourself.

I hope this helps you some.

[Unregistered]

The shortcut to reviewing an agency . . .any agency . . .is look at the personnel turn over. If memory serves me correctly FHP will spend over one million dollars to train its personnel and yet will roughly have close to a 10-15% turnover every year. Why? What other agency in the State of Florida will spend that kind of money per trooper then lose manpower like that? FHP use to say . . ."four hundred Troopers in four hours anywhere in the state". . .now their lucky if they can muster 40. That addresses "Leadership". Hope this answers your questions.

[Unregistered]

The shortcut to reviewing an agency . . .any agency . . .is look at the personnel turn over. If memory serves me correctly FHP will spend over one million dollars to train its personnel and yet will roughly have close to a 10-15% turnover every year. Why? What other agency in the State of Florida will spend that kind of money per trooper then lose manpower like that? FHP use to say . . ."four hundred Troopers in four hours anywhere in the state". . .now their lucky if they can muster 40. That addresses "Leadership". Hope this answers your questions.

That’s inaccurate. Over 500 deployed to Gainesville about a month ago.... 50 are in Puerto Rico right now and 50 more will be deploying soon.

As a side, FHP is a great agency despite what some may say. Unfortunately, there are probably (at most) 30 troopers out of 1,700 current troopers that come on here and bad mouth the agency. That’s 1.78% of FHP’s troopers. Even if you say 100 troopers out of the current 1,700 come on here and bad mouth the agency, that 5.88% of the entire agency. To be realistic, it’s probably the same 9 or 10 disgruntled people making comments on here (you can tell by some of their repeated responses). So, in the absolute worst case scenario, you don’t hear from roughly 94% of the troopers. I challenge you to find any agency in the nation where less than 10% of their officers hate their agency.

At the end of the day, this job, just as any other in any profession, is what you make of it. If you choose to be a slug, you will get treated like one and will never go anywhere. If you work hard, are ethical, stay out of trouble and apply yourself, you will go far. Here, just as in every other profession, when someone gets promoted it must be because they have slept with someone or kissed enough rear-end and not because they were at all qualified. Does the Patrol have some people in certain ranks that shouldn’t be there? Absolutely it does, but you can thank your union for some of that. When it comes to career service ranks, certain rules must be followed and sometimes, just because someone passed a test, they are ahead of someone else on a promotional list and must be chosen first. Is that always the best person to pick? Absolutely not, but due to bargaining agreement contracts, it is what it is. Think about it. *Cue the naysayers and haters chiming-in to attempt to squash everything I just wrote.*

Believe what you want and make informed decisions. You certainly shouldn’t come on an anonymous website where there is no accountability for what people say and base your decision on what you read here.

Just two cents from a very happy FHP trooper.

[Unregistered]

Fhp is not a bad agency I will agree with that. The principal issue that FHP continuously faces is the issue of PAY. The patrol does not offer any type of longevity pay or step plan like many agencies throughout the state do. That is the MAIN reason why we have such a high turnover rate. If you’re stationed in Miami.. you will be FORCED to work off duty or soar to make ends meet. Just imagine a typical rent in Miami (in a decent are of town is anywhere in the neighborhood of 1700 - 2000 a month.) plus utilities. I’ve been on for 16 years and my take home pay is 2900 (after my deductions of union and deferred Comp).

[Unregistered]

Stay in Michigan

[Unregistered]

Let me preface this by saying that I don't work for FHP. I am retired and have done time with a PD and a SO. I view quite a few of these boards and think I can offer you some insight.

To start with, if you read enough of the message boards for the different agencies on here, especially the active ones, you will find a lot of similar attitudes and posts on each of the boards. Cops tend to come to these boards to vent and get things off of their chest. Whether it be about their zone partner, pay, or their department.

The biggest issue right now facing FHP is the low pay, which by the way they just got a raise and expect to get another one next year, but it's not guaranteed, and the high turnover/lack of troopers on the road. You don't get into law enforcement to get rich, but you want to be able to feed yourself and your family if you have one. There are many departments in Florida that pay better than FHP and have a better retirement also.

FHP's core mission is traffic. Some of the larger PDs and SOs have traffic units as well. It probably takes years to get into these units if you ever can. But they also have many other specialized units that FHP doesn't have. Granted FHP has some specialized units, but not like the larger PDs and SOs.

You really have a lot of things to consider. You have to decide what you really want to do and how important money is to you. How important is a retirement to you. Some places have 20 years, some 25, some 30.

Come down here, do ride a alongs with FHP and some PDs and SOs and see what you like the best. Do some research and see what departments might offer in the way of money, retirement, specialty units, training, and anything else that might interest you.

Now to answer your question title question. Is FHP "that" bad? It depends on who you ask. Everyone has their own opinion. Many troopers will tell you that yes it is, but many troopers will tell you that it is not. You have to really do more research and judge for yourself.

I hope this helps you some.

Good answer.

To answer the question "Is FHP that bad"? No. It does depend on where you work. Each Troop and District are run different. Comes down to your supervisors and fellow co-workers as with any agency.

Some known FHP areas of misery are Orlando and the panhandle but overall it varies. Do not get discouraged as some posters on here are from the misery areas and their experiences are not a reflection of FHP as a whole.

[Unregistered]

That’s inaccurate. Over 500 deployed to Gainesville about a month ago.... 50 are in Puerto Rico right now and 50 more will be deploying soon.

As a side, FHP is a great agency despite what some may say. Unfortunately, there are probably (at most) 30 troopers out of 1,700 current troopers that come on here and bad mouth the agency. That’s 1.78% of FHP’s troopers. Even if you say 100 troopers out of the current 1,700 come on here and bad mouth the agency, that 5.88% of the entire agency. To be realistic, it’s probably the same 9 or 10 disgruntled people making comments on here (you can tell by some of their repeated responses). So, in the absolute worst case scenario, you don’t hear from roughly 94% of the troopers. I challenge you to find any agency in the nation where less than 10% of their officers hate their agency.

At the end of the day, this job, just as any other in any profession, is what you make of it. If you choose to be a slug, you will get treated like one and will never go anywhere. If you work hard, are ethical, stay out of trouble and apply yourself, you will go far. Here, just as in every other profession, when someone gets promoted it must be because they have slept with someone or kissed enough rear-end and not because they were at all qualified. Does the Patrol have some people in certain ranks that shouldn’t be there? Absolutely it does, but you can thank your union for some of that. When it comes to career service ranks, certain rules must be followed and sometimes, just because someone passed a test, they are ahead of someone else on a promotional list and must be chosen first. Is that always the best person to pick? Absolutely not, but due to bargaining agreement contracts, it is what it is. Think about it. *Cue the naysayers and haters chiming-in to attempt to squash everything I just wrote.*

Believe what you want and make informed decisions. You certainly shouldn’t come on an anonymous website where there is no accountability for what people say and base your decision on what you read here.

Just two cents from a very happy FHP trooper.

Man .... I want your flavor Kool Aid!

[Unregistered]

Although I currently live in Michigan, I was going to attend MSP academy after separating from the military but was accepted to U on M and wanted a degree. Anyways long story short I finish my degree in March and will be moving to FL in the summer as at this point in time I'm done with the snow and 19 degree winters. FHP caught my attention but after doing a little research and then coming to these boards I'm not sure if that's the right one. As cliche as it sounds I'm of the mindset it's all about how you approach things in life and the attitude you have going into those things...having said that when 9 of 10 topics are just clowning FHP I start to second guess myself. When I read posts of troopers or what appears to be troopers sandbag their own department on pay, shortage of personnel and lack of respect through other agencies and the community It's difficult not to take into consideration. Furthermore, it's tiring trying to weed out the trolling comments from the genuine ones, sometimes I read comments and then ask myself "It sounds like this person hates life, why are you even here" but who knows maybe they come here to vent, wife cheated on them, suck at there job, LT took there jelly doughnut, I don't know so I try and give them the benefit of the doubt.

So my questions are if you were in my position, not knowing much of the state but open to going anywhere is there a certain department/agency doesnt have to be FHP that peaks your interest (Pretend your single with no family in FL) that perhaps you've heard many good things about if so which. Also, like my topic says is FHP that bad, it sounds like the peak is an anthill and the valley is marianas trench but is this true or are they going through a rough patch at the moment Ive read the "Troopers leaving Pensacola post" but one can assume that those spots will be filled or perhaps not? where do you see FHP in 5 to 10 years? Any advice or question I should consider when making a decision would help

I appreciate your time

TL;DR, but to answer the question in your title, YES!

[Unregistered]

Although I currently live in Michigan, I was going to attend MSP academy after separating from the military but was accepted to U on M and wanted a degree. Anyways long story short I finish my degree in March and will be moving to FL in the summer as at this point in time I'm done with the snow and 19 degree winters. FHP caught my attention but after doing a little research and then coming to these boards I'm not sure if that's the right one. As cliche as it sounds I'm of the mindset it's all about how you approach things in life and the attitude you have going into those things...having said that when 9 of 10 topics are just clowning FHP I start to second guess myself. When I read posts of troopers or what appears to be troopers sandbag their own department on pay, shortage of personnel and lack of respect through other agencies and the community It's difficult not to take into consideration. Furthermore, it's tiring trying to weed out the trolling comments from the genuine ones, sometimes I read comments and then ask myself "It sounds like this person hates life, why are you even here" but who knows maybe they come here to vent, wife cheated on them, suck at there job, LT took there jelly doughnut, I don't know so I try and give them the benefit of the doubt.

So my questions are if you were in my position, not knowing much of the state but open to going anywhere is there a certain department/agency doesnt have to be FHP that peaks your interest (Pretend your single with no family in FL) that perhaps you've heard many good things about if so which. Also, like my topic says is FHP that bad, it sounds like the peak is an anthill and the valley is marianas trench but is this true or are they going through a rough patch at the moment Ive read the "Troopers leaving Pensacola post" but one can assume that those spots will be filled or perhaps not? where do you see FHP in 5 to 10 years? Any advice or question I should consider when making a decision would help

I appreciate your time

Yes it is. There is a reason FHP has such disgusting high turnover and is short staffed. And it’s not just pay. I encourage you to look at County and City law enforcement agencies in Florida. You will have more opportunities, better pay, better equipment, better benefits, and often times better retirement. It’s a no brainer. You seem squared away, so if you do come to FHP You will just waste your time at FHP for a year or two and end up going to one of these better agencies anyway. The only ones that stay are the ones that can’t make the cut at one these better agencies and are stuck here. Run don’t walk from FHP.