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09-05-2017, 08:57 AM #1UnregisteredGuest
DIFS Insight
hey guys,
Im a local LEO for a fairly large city in South Florida, I have about 2 years of experience and a degree. I want to go into detective bureau in my current agency but its all on who you know and barely anyone leaves back there.
I was looking into DIFS but i got a couple questions. I would take a bit of a pay cut with starting salary of about $46k, but do you guys have a steps program? What are some of the pros and cons of working for this agency. I would appreciate any pointers.
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09-05-2017, 05:10 PM #2UnregisteredGuest
First, it may or may not be wise to try and leave the road for a position here with only two years of experience. Many of the people here are already retired from another agency and most have a baccalaureate or advanced degree. The cases we work can be very complex and a lot of the Statutes are not even in the patrol statute book. When I first came here, with ten years of experience (about five as a Detective), and a Master's degree I did not know what the hell I was looking at so far as the typical case was concerned. The Training Agent I had gave me my first case and left me to sort it out on my own.
Next, our pay is tied to State allocation regarding raises. We may get a five percent raise one year and not see another for a decade or so; hence, why this is a difficult job for those working on their first pension, but we are a lot better off financially than FHP.
The day-to-day working conditions are pretty decent, but also vary by the field office you work in. We are not a first response agency, so there really is no rotating shift work, weekends, or holidays that you will be working on a regular basis. If you get hired into a decent region with a good Lieutenant and do your job as expected you really should have no problems. There are always exceptions and this place is not perfect by any means. I came here for the ability to spend more time with my family, to see my children grow up, and I have been able to do that.
The pay is pretty mediocre and you will have headaches here like any other agency. I cannot tell you if it is worth it for you to come here or not, that really depends upon your priorities and financial situation. The only thing I can say for certain is do not count on any regular pay increases at all.
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09-06-2017, 04:31 PM #3UnregisteredGuest
Thanks for the pointers, yeah I see where your coming from as far as experience and money. Family wise it made sense which was one reason why I was considering it.
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09-06-2017, 10:55 PM #4UnregisteredGuest
I agree with everything the previous poster said. I also came to this agency to spend more time with family. It is nice to not be on call, work a set schedule, and knowing I can take time off as needed, which was a challenge when I worked the road. We have had guys come over from a PD with very little experience and they picked it up really fast and do good work. We have also had people retire from a PD with many years in the DB that left us wondering how they made it in the DB. You know your own abilities and what kind of learner you are. You may want to reach out to the office of interest and see if you could stop by one day to meet with a Lieutenant and/or Detective to see if it is right for you.
Feel free to post anymore questions you may have.
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09-14-2017, 01:05 AM #5UnregisteredGuest
Yeah thanks for the answer, I will contact the Miami field office to get further information and try to pass by and check it out. It would be nice to have a normal schedule and spend more time with family.
How extensive are the fraud cases that you guys work?
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09-14-2017, 01:55 AM #6UnregisteredGuest
The cases seem to vary. We get some small cases that you can finish real quick, and others that may take a year or longer. Unfortunately, there is not a short answer to that question. We need a good variety of short and extensive cases to keep Tallahassee happy, if such a thing is possible.
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09-14-2017, 02:16 AM #7UnregisteredGuest
Oh okay that is good, and keeps work instersting. I'm definitely going to consider it. I will look more into it.
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09-14-2017, 02:17 AM #8UnregisteredGuest
One last question, do you guys have any joint task force?
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09-14-2017, 05:33 PM #9UnregisteredGuest
Yes, we have task force cases. I spent over a year working a large staged accident case with several federal agencies, the US Attorney, Office of Statewide Prosecution, etc. I also worked another shorter one with the OIG of the Postal Inspector. These cases are more occasional than routine though; however, the federal contacts you make are invaluable going forward if you need assistance with a case that might nexus into their jurisdiction. I have a literal Rolodex of contacts for most agencies that are useful in most cases that come across my desk; this is just a routine part of networking and you will build your own or borrow from one of the other detectives in the office.
We also attend a lot of meetings, conferences and functions where you can grow your network of useful contacts. I can tell from the type and number of questions that you have more than a passing interest in the agency. I think you should definitely come by your local field office and poke around. So many applicants skip that opportunity and it is a missed one for sure. Best of luck to you.
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09-14-2017, 11:03 PM #10UnregisteredGuest
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