Trooper life

[Unregistered]

What made you choose FHP over other agencies?

[Unregistered]

Yikes. You seem honest, how do you like being a Trooper?

Wouldn't trade it for any other job. Freedom to leave my house everyday and either make a right turn or left turn. I dont have someone breathing down my neck all the time. I get to make an impact on idiot drivers that bully others. I start working from my house and finish working at my house. I can make more $ if I want to with offduty or soar. I dont pay for vehicle maintenance on my pov cause I hardly drive it. I get free uniforms and $ to clean them. I can avoid people if I want to. I can drive all the miles I want and anywhere I want within my zone which is usually a whole county, sometimes two. I get plenty of time off with 12 hrs shift, more time off than I need. To summarize it all, I just can't give away my freedom. I see my supervisor once or twice a month if everything goes smooth, other than that, I'm my own boss. However, if you are a screw up and need constant attention, you will probably see your sergeant or lieutenant more often, which are usually the Troopers that post here the screwups. The pay is not the best, but you have options to promote or work OT. I live well with I make, can't drive a Lexus, but a Nissan Altima will get me there just fine. After 14 years, I'm still happy with my choice. Thought about the SO at the beginning of my career, but hearing all the politics involved and seeing all the BS they have to deal with, I didn't. I enjoy doing traffic and working a good crash where your decisions and knowledge matters. Its not for everyone, especially if you are part of the new entitled generation

[Unregistered]

Wouldn't trade it for any other job. Freedom to leave my house everyday and either make a right turn or left turn. I dont have someone breathing down my neck all the time. I get to make an impact on idiot drivers that bully others. I start working from my house and finish working at my house. I can make more $ if I want to with offduty or soar. I dont pay for vehicle maintenance on my pov cause I hardly drive it. I get free uniforms and $ to clean them. I can avoid people if I want to. I can drive all the miles I want and anywhere I want within my zone which is usually a whole county, sometimes two. I get plenty of time off with 12 hrs shift, more time off than I need. To summarize it all, I just can't give away my freedom. I see my supervisor once or twice a month if everything goes smooth, other than that, I'm my own boss. However, if you are a screw up and need constant attention, you will probably see your sergeant or lieutenant more often, which are usually the Troopers that post here the screwups. The pay is not the best, but you have options to promote or work OT. I live well with I make, can't drive a Lexus, but a Nissan Altima will get me there just fine. After 14 years, I'm still happy with my choice. Thought about the SO at the beginning of my career, but hearing all the politics involved and seeing all the BS they have to deal with, I didn't. I enjoy doing traffic and working a good crash where your decisions and knowledge matters. Its not for everyone, especially if you are part of the new entitled generation

And I forgot, you have a job in the whole State of Florida. You can transfer within the 67 counties. Like I said, is not for everyone. This is probably the most dangerous job in the world. Remember, you work alone and backup is usually miles away. So stay in shape and always watch your corners.. Good luck in your decision!!!!

[Unregistered]

And I forgot, you have a job in the whole State of Florida. You can transfer within the 67 counties. Like I said, is not for everyone. This is probably the most dangerous job in the world. Remember, you work alone and backup is usually miles away. So stay in shape and always watch your corners.. Good luck in your decision!!!!

See, I like knowing that I could transfer to another troop in the state if I had to. I’m in South Florida and the drivers down here are horrible (going 95+ mph)
I’m currently in the process with a PD (the pay is so much higher) but I’m more attracted to FHP. I have always had the utmost respect for our Troopers. I just received my supplemental application from FHP though. The problem I have though is FHP’s process. I’m currently in a local police academy full-time and I can’t leave the police academy I am attending to complete the FHP PAT because FHP won’t accept a PAT that wasn’t administered by them. I’m hoping to join the TRC Academy class 148 (starts June 26) but I’ll probably end up going to the TRC academy class 149 (November 15th) depending on when I can conduct the PAT and how fast the FHP process is for me.

I noticed a lot of Troopers complain on this websites forms but I take it like a grain of salt. They are probably the lazy ones and aren’t passionate about their career. I am looking to make FHP a career.

Which Troop are you in?

[Unregistered]

Because the ones that post here have been dead for years. They probably don't even open the driver side door of the patrol car to pee, all they do is vegetate on leoaffairs. The other half that post either got fired, didn't get hired or got spanked for whatever reason.

Which of the above two are you?

[Unregistered]

Now here is the bad part - at FHP you will get the worst pension in the State of Florida. Actually pretty soon you might not even be able to get in the FRS, they will put you the the 401k type investment plan.

Do yourself a big favor and go to an agency which offers a decent 20 year pension and a DROP plan. It sucks to be 60 years old and still pound the streets.

[Unregistered]

Wouldn't trade it for any other job. Freedom to leave my house everyday and either make a right turn or left turn. I dont have someone breathing down my neck all the time. I get to make an impact on idiot drivers that bully others. I start working from my house and finish working at my house. I can make more $ if I want to with offduty or soar. I dont pay for vehicle maintenance on my pov cause I hardly drive it. I get free uniforms and $ to clean them. I can avoid people if I want to. I can drive all the miles I want and anywhere I want within my zone which is usually a whole county, sometimes two. I get plenty of time off with 12 hrs shift, more time off than I need. To summarize it all, I just can't give away my freedom. I see my supervisor once or twice a month if everything goes smooth, other than that, I'm my own boss. However, if you are a screw up and need constant attention, you will probably see your sergeant or lieutenant more often, which are usually the Troopers that post here the screwups. The pay is not the best, but you have options to promote or work OT. I live well with I make, can't drive a Lexus, but a Nissan Altima will get me there just fine. After 14 years, I'm still happy with my choice. Thought about the SO at the beginning of my career, but hearing all the politics involved and seeing all the BS they have to deal with, I didn't. I enjoy doing traffic and working a good crash where your decisions and knowledge matters. Its not for everyone, especially if you are part of the new entitled generation

Thanks for posting your experience...it's helpful and refreshing. I'm hoping for July's basic academy. FHP will be a good fit for me.

[Unregistered]

The FRS is basically dead. Every year they come back wanting to gut it to the last drop. I don't see how anyone would do law enforcement for 30 years in today's environment. I feel bad for the new guys.

[Unregistered]

I’m an ex trooper that was with FHP for 14 years and I moved on to the private sector. I won’t bad mouth the agency because it was my employer for a significant amount of time. What I will say, is that the FHP has some wonderful guys / gals that work in that agency which I consider very knowledgeable. The agency does make a concerted effort to provide all the necessary resources to complete the job effectively.

What I would recommend is that you play your cards right. Invest a portion of your earnings into a private investment account and live within your means. Every agency has its ups and downs, naysayers, and folks that don’t speak very favorably in spite of any circumstance.

If you have any questions, contact a local recruiter.

[Unregistered]

Here’s my two cents on the agency. FHP is what you make of it. If you do your job and mind your business you will do just fine. Plenty of opportunities to make extra cash but remember you’ll always be working. I do live very comfortably and within my means. money isn’t the issue for me with this job.. the issue is the UNDERSTAFFING.... when you take a x8 and you have 15-20 crashes holding each day with two other Troopers to help.. That s*** takes a toll mentally.. There is no time to be proactive since you are 65ing all night. I understand there are only a certain amount of slots for each county, but when people are waiting 6-7 hours for a Trooper that’s a problem. Command staff knows the issue but nothing gets done because this has been a problem for this county for years...