Why is everyone leaving?

Noone wants to answer the million dollar question.....
Why are we STILL losing officers from one end of the state to the other?
The money is still the same as when they hired on.
The equipment has not changed.
The assignment rules are the same.
The job is the same unless they have been around like me for a long time.
Benefits are unchanged.
Uniforms, about the same.
The list goes on and on...........So, Back to the question?
WHY DO THEY LEAVE?
I personally believe part of the reason to leave has to do with how they are treated.....Here in the NorthWest region morale has NEVER been lower.Last years L/E survey was proof of that. Our Commander scored the lowest in the agency. His scores were embarrassing. What was done about it? The Col. told us in a regional meeting...WE didnt understand the questions! A committee was formed to discuss the survey results. The committee has talked about everything except the survey.
Another factor for our mass departures is TICKETS, TICKETS, TICKETS.
We have gone from talking about the C.O.P.S. idea of be nice to everyone...and "educate" without paperwork, to where we are now....write em all and "FEED THAT CAD"
If you cant find a good case to write, find someone without a whistle or registration on board. But most importantly...Get on the radio and let everyone in the region know that "your working hard today"
So....Back to the question, WHY DO THEY LEAVE?
Basically, Its because we HAVE changed! ALOT
In the Northwest region Lt's are stepping down, Lt's are leaving(not retiring) Why would two LT'S. walk away from their jobs after years of experience? Short answer......The way they were treated! Simple as that.
We cant afford to keep losing our seasoned officers. We cant afford to be a training ground for other agencies.
Sad thing is....most of our officers are more worried about a patch or a hat or a laptop than they are about this issue. Look at the replies to the messages, you will see what I mean.

Wow. One of my buddies from the academy went to the NW region, and I touch base with him from time to time. He has told me some horror stories about your Major up there. He's basically told me the same things as you have listed in your post.

I remember last year's LEO survey results, and being really surprised that the NW zone recceived the lowest scores in the state. I was under the impression that the NW zone was where everyone wanted to work.

If your Major is running Lt's and officers off, then why does he still have a job?

I agree that we have way too many sworn worried about a badge and a name change, than how we're gonna get a pay raise. We need to get our priorities straight.

Management could care less about us. As someone stated before, we are not allowed to use our patrol vehicle for many of the off-duty jobs. For instance when we worked Walmart we could not use our patrol vehicle even though we had insurance and paid mileage for the use.

Sure... I didn't enjoy working at Walmart arresting shop lifters. Fact of the matter is our salary is so extremely low and stagnant I have to work extra duty to support my family.

A previous post stated extra money will soon be flooding into our agency's budget due to increased boat registration fees. No one wants to talk about this. All they want to talk about is a damn badge or door decal.

Management and yes..... our Colonel should step up to the plate to fund pay increases for the law enforcement section. But she is making a six figure salary so why should she care?

I predict that she will appropriate the new money to new feel good projects throughout the state and place blame on other agencies for not getting us a long deserved pay increase.

Wait and See!

Take everything else out of the equation and you will find that most officers just can't afford to live anymore to the standards of today. That's why they are leaving. We love our jobs and worked hard at them. Then, while we were driving in our POV to our off-duty job we pass a firefighter or a county cop going the other way towing their boat. Something many of us can't afford.

You talk these really old timers and they tell you about the days of making $12K a year. Well guess what, back then you could buy a house for $30K. It's apples to oranges and they don't get it.

As for your Major, we've all heard stories. He has you on mileage restrictions just so he can turn money in at the end of year. He makes sure no one uses twin engine boats. He doesn't let you buy new uniforms and tires. Yeah, we've heard all about him.

We don't have your problems in other parts of the state. We have awesome working conditions. It's the influence of the panhandle that's killing us. They won't ask for a pay raise.

[Pathfinder]

I agree whole heartedly with all that is said, prime example. Has anyone heard or read anything at all except that letter from the Col. about anything to do with the budget? They haven't even updated the current events for two weeks and now the message from the big man up stairs. Not a word about anything except the waste of money they like to call commission meetings. But what is new, mushroom treatment just like always....

Why is everyone leaving??

PAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It sucks!!!!! There are no raises and there is a serious pay compression issue where 18 year officers make $3000 more than starting pay!!!!!!!

I loved the water!! I enjoyed my job!! I enjoyed going to work!! I enjoyed most aspects of the job!!

But job satisfaction did not allow me to advance my quality of life and NOT getting a yearly pay raise was an insult. So I took my experience and training elsewhere.

Can you say pay... or lack thereof????

I'll give an example of our tough times concerning money. After being told that we don't have any money and do not purchase anything without prior approval, ride together, idle in your boats, etc. :

Our wonderful Colonel decided to have the annual meeting of the Midwestern States Game Warden Chiefs Association, of which she is the preisdent, in my region Last time I checked, Florida was not in the Midwest, but oh well.

So here is our Colonel who is preseident of this "club" and we have to have a helicopter, at least 8 vessels(twins), offshore patrol boats, to put on a vessel tactics show for guys from Nevada, Canada, Colorado, etc. We burned a lot of fuel and man hours so our Colonel can show off the fleet to Game Wardens from other states.

Is this a wise thing to dp when money is scarce and marine fuel @ $4.60 per gallon?

Bad command decisions are the downfall of this agency in addition to their lack of courage to speak up in fear of losing their cake jobs.

Were the M-249 SAW's broken out and put in place on the boats?

I left the FMP years ago before the merger, and everything that is being said here is true, plus it's at least 20 years old. That's a sad statement. Ted Akey couldn't get anything done at FMP nor could Curtiss Earp, and those were the fat days of the cocaine cowboys in South Florida where we pretty much wanted for nothing but good working relationships with our supervisors and the ability to work details when available.

There were a few good ones around like Bobby Knight, but sadly they broke the mold after him and he recently retired. Leadership to him was more than cheerleading and stats, he actually patrolled with us, arrested people and helped with the paperwork, kept the bigwigs off our asses, and fought like hell to make sure you stayed happy. A rare commodity this day in age. (His alter ego was Sam Corey, a rigid, autocratic, do as I say and not as I do, backstabber who was only out for himself and his cronies, and didn't care who or what he had to step on and ruin to get there.) Trust me I worked for both.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is sometimes the upper echelon forgets: 1. Where they came from
2. How difficult the job can be physically and mentally
3. The sacrifices made for people to stay with the job
4. That the agancy lives and dies with the efforts of the line officers who are out there day in and day out trying their best to do a good job.

I truly enjoyed all my time on the FMP and look back on those days fondly. In the twilight of my law enforcement career, I know that I made the right choice to leave even though I loved it very much, and it was hard to leave some good times and friendships.

I'm not exactly sure what it's going to take to right the ship and get the FWC the same stature that I enjoyed with the FMP, but I sure hope they're not looking for new badges and hats to do it for them. We were a professional agency that was well respected in the South Florida community as a bunch of kick ass cops who would take care of business when needed whether it be saving people from a sinking or burning boat, protecting the scarce natural resources, arresting dopers or DUI boaters, or any of the other myriad of tasks we were asked to perform on a daily basis.

Those were definitely the days my friend. I hope that one day you will enjoy it the way I did...and get paid well for it too. If you really want to know the history of the agency call Little Beth. She is the keeper of all the secrets and stories of the FMP and FWC alike. She should definitely write a book one day. It would be an instant best seller.

Stay Safe!

Those days are gone brother. Now, you have a new crop of LEO's, from all agencies, who want a new badge, hat, cool vehicle graphics, and who actually ask on a public forum if it's Ok to put Red/Blue lights in their POV.

I think pay compression is the biggest issue. If you don't fix it, the ranks keep getting filled with youngsters who desire the aforementioned. Senior experienced officers leave with regret, to better support their family financially.

I miss FMP. I applied LONG ago when I first got out of the USCG. It was a well respected agency with a no-nonsense reputation.

[quote="Anonymous"]Those days are gone brother. Now, you have a new crop of LEO's, from all agencies, who want a new badge, hat, cool vehicle graphics, and who actually ask on a public forum if it's Ok to put Red/Blue lights in their POV.



Remember not everyone who posts on this site is LEO. So, the stupid comment about placing red/blue lights in their POV's should have went in one ear and out the other. A clue would have been that FWC SLEO use blue not red!

To put it succinctly, everyone here with an IQ numeral larger than their hat size is leaving. attempting to leave, talking about leaving, shopping for another job, looking in other states or counting the days to retirement.
Is that clear enough?
If you have to ask why, then you don't work for the State of Florida.