PBA Backing 5% raise for SOT

[TheNineFive4]

So PBA and the Commish are backing a 5% pay raise for SOT members. The PBA members should normally back such a proposal but here are a few things to consider.

So of the 35 working agents in the region, you figure 10 are assigned to SOT. Is that reasonable to have 10 of 35 of your working agents on an SOT team in an investigative agency as small as ours? Hell, we can't even get to get the SOT team to help with much of anything in our region. They always find a reason why they can't do it or it doesn't fit the criteria for a callout or they're busy training. In most other agencies, SWAT guys are always helpful, providing 2 or 3 guys to help when we had an arrest even if it didn't fit the "criteria". Unless our team is ordered to go on an out of town warrant, cyber warrant or torch run, our team seems to deliberately make themselves unavailable. Even when they have help us on a warrant, they hand you the prisoner and head to breakfast and are home by 9:30am leaving us to do all the work. There is a need for an SOT team for some agencies, but in a region with 35 working agents, its a waste. They're always away at training and have isolated themselves by making themselves out to be so elite (in their mind), that they no longer seem like one of us. We can ask BSO to serve warrants for us.

[Unregistered]

So PBA and the Commish are backing a 5% pay raise for SOT members. The PBA members should normally back such a proposal but here are a few things to consider.

So of the 35 working agents in the region, you figure 10 are assigned to SOT. Is that reasonable to have 10 of 35 of your working agents on an SOT team in an investigative agency as small as ours? Hell, we can't even get to get the SOT team to help with much of anything in our region. They always find a reason why they can't do it or it doesn't fit the criteria for a callout or they're busy training. In most other agencies, SWAT guys are always helpful, providing 2 or 3 guys to help when we had an arrest even if it didn't fit the "criteria". Unless our team is ordered to go on an out of town warrant, cyber warrant or torch run, our team seems to deliberately make themselves unavailable. Even when they have help us on a warrant, they hand you the prisoner and head to breakfast and are home by 9:30am leaving us to do all the work. There is a need for an SOT team for some agencies, but in a region with 35 working agents, its a waste. They're always away at training and have isolated themselves by making themselves out to be so elite (in their mind), that they no longer seem like one of us. We can ask BSO to serve warrants for us.

Come on brother FDLE suffers from elitinitess!!
SO now the SOT will move their annual salary to $33,500. Let them enjoy their poverty level of pay.
FDLE IS A JOKE!!!

[Boca19]

There are a few good guys on the team. They just have zero leadership. Their leader is the one who was yelling like a stuttering mad man at us at the range and telling us if we got into a shootout in the dark, we should close one eye?????

[Unregistered]

Why does it take PBA to get a 5% incentive for SOT? Can’t the Commish just make it happen?

Also, FDLEs SOT is a pure joke.... look at the team members, especially North team, and try not to laugh. They are not a real SOT but more like a low grade warrants team at best. Please don’t mistake these guys with a REAL SWAT team like Tallahassee or Leon County has. There is a huge difference .

[Unregistered]

Those basasses with the flattop haircuts and blackhawk button up shirts are true miracles of human beings and far superior to those non-special Agents that can actually conduct an investigation (and actually DO have and complete casework). Whats alarming is the ability of the command staff to turn a blind eye to what a waste these teams actually are. In the past, it was one of those things that they let exist but they knew it was an over-extension of resources and not a true viable thing to the overall Agency mission... so teams were just happy to be there and didn't want to rock the boat. Now they know that Swearingen is one of those feel-good seat of the pants guys that will agree to support the big Ego guys because he wants to these cool cats to like him. Next time he's out for a beer, he can wink at them and high-five them because now he's a cool dude too.

The Ego of these guys when they are on a SOT team that never gets called is just laughable and we all know it. The 5% has to be a bad joke perpetrated by that Ego and supported by idiots that don't care about the agency justifying it's existence and only wanting to make that sweet SOT position where they get to go play with machine guns even better.

Oh, and leave it to PBA to actually stand up for something where they don't really have to stand up for something... LOL. I'm sure they are promising the PBA guys some sweet new gear when it all comes in.

[Unregistered]

If you see someone from FDLE with a flattop or military fade haircut you automatically know they are a poser. After all, you are with FDLE, the LEAST Military-style Agency in all of Law Enforcement.

Unless you are a tactical guy with Capital Police, then you are absolutely LEGIT. Those guys are Rockstars (well, only if they know Rick Scott personally AND are able to get promoted in the next 13 months).

[Unregistered]

These guys are the biggest pricks that can get away with anything and I've seen them treat people on the range with severe, unnecessary disrespect. You can't say anything because you'll be targeted next.

[Unregistered]

These guys are the biggest pricks that can get away with anything and I've seen them treat people on the range with severe, unnecessary disrespect. You can't say anything because you'll be targeted next.

Sounds like the homo RB is back.

[Unregistered]

RS has promoted the "we're special" vs the rest of the employees his entire appointment. Then tries to come off as he stands for everyone (like pay raises for all, etc.) but it's the micro treatment of employees that shows the real character (which shows a horrid track record).

[Unregistered]

Everyone thinks they work more and harder in their assignment than the next guy in the squad over. Intel with the crazy hours. POS with long days and weekends. Fraud with tedious specialty work going through mountains of records. ESST out at all hours of the night. We all work our asses off doing one thing or another. There is nothing special that these guys deserve over anyone else.

Just because they feel like they are superior doesn't mean they are.

[Unregistered]

Great post.... no way these guys deserve 5% when what they do is part time at best. I’d rather see specialized full time units such as POS or ESST get a % raise over a part time group that’s really not even special. Hopefully smarter heads will prevail.

[Unregistered]

A. PBA has no juice. Doesn't matter what they support or don't support. As insignificant as you can get to the Commish and his buddies.

B. The Commish will just do whatever he wants and doesn't care what anyone thinks. If you ask questions or even inquire as to why someone is getting extra $, you will be targeted. How dare anyone question any decision or why anyone is given extra money. Even if 2 Agents or Analysts are working side-by-side doing the same thing, it's OK to give one a pay incentive and not the other. If questioned, the person questioning will now "have problems" that never existed before.

C. It's absolutely more about who you are and not what you do or how hard you work. Perception is not always reality. Including the perception that one works harder than the other (or vice versa).

[Unregistered]

If you don't want to do SOT or it's just too demanding and "not worth it" without the increase, DON'T DO IT. GET OUT. PERIOD.

Go work Fraud and see how easy those nerds have it. And yes, you can be the lead on all Fraud search warrants going in the door. Then you'll wonder WTF you were thinking when you thought you had it so bad.

[RegularAgent]

The SOT South squad has alienated themselves from the working class over the past few years. They do everything they can to avoid actually helping the squads out. All they do is train. Speaking of training, they are so elite, they have their own range and DT sessions, so they don't have to train or associate with the "regular agents". They wear their special 'green" uniforms everywhere so we will know they are "better than us". They are also the firearm instructors and they yell at us angrily and do absolutely nothing to help us. WTF was that last instruction to "close one eye" in a gunfight at night anyway???? Was that on the FDLE lesson plan? Does headquarters know you're teaching that crazy bull&@#t? They do the bare minimum that FDLE policy requires to train. Remember when Ralph was here and he used to give us extra training and gear. Wish he was still on the job. You used to actually feel like the instructors care about your ability to make it through a gunfight. Now if your handcuff pouch breaks, you ask Larry and he rolls his eyes at you as you have interrupted him from doing nothing. He tells you he has no extra handcuff pouches, but your friend on SOT tells you there are tons extra handcuff pouches in the gun room but Larry doesn't give a shit about helping the agents. I had to buy my own pouch as this A$$wipe wouldn't replace my pouch. This experience is repeated over and over with many agents but this is what we're stuck with. The team members are always showing off new guns and expensive toys they are being issued, as the regular agents get NOTHING! If this talk about a raise for SOT is true, the Commissioner should respectfully ask the regular working agents about their opinion before granting the raise. SOT South has certainly not earned it. At least their team bosses have ensured they don't have support from most of the troops (the not so elite regular folk).

And on the search warrants. You can gear down and stay and help us with security and do the search. That's a perfect example of how you've alienated yourself.

[Unregistered]

The SOT South squad has alienated themselves from the working class over the past few years. They do everything they can to avoid actually helping the squads out. All they do is train. Speaking of training, they are so elite, they have their own range and DT sessions, so they don't have to train or associate with the "regular agents". They wear their special 'green" uniforms everywhere so we will know they are "better than us". They are also the firearm instructors and they yell at us angrily and do absolutely nothing to help us. WTF was that last instruction to "close one eye" in a gunfight at night anyway???? Was that on the FDLE lesson plan? Does headquarters know you're teaching that crazy bull&@#t? They do the bare minimum that FDLE policy requires to train. Remember when Ralph was here and he used to give us extra training and gear. Wish he was still on the job. You used to actually feel like the instructors care about your ability to make it through a gunfight. Now if your handcuff pouch breaks, you ask Larry and he rolls his eyes at you as you have interrupted him from doing nothing. He tells you he has no extra handcuff pouches, but your friend on SOT tells you there are tons extra handcuff pouches in the gun room but Larry doesn't give a shit about helping the agents. I had to buy my own pouch as this A$$wipe wouldn't replace my pouch. This experience is repeated over and over with many agents but this is what we're stuck with. The team members are always showing off new guns and expensive toys they are being issued, as the regular agents get NOTHING! If this talk about a raise for SOT is true, the Commissioner should respectfully ask the regular working agents about their opinion before granting the raise. SOT South has certainly not earned it. At least their team bosses have ensured they don't have support from most of the troops (the not so elite regular folk).

And on the search warrants. You can gear down and stay and help us with security and do the search. That's a perfect example of how you've alienated yourself.

This is the Swearingen Era and this is how he has set FDLE up- The "Elite Class" that can do not wrong not matter what they do (or how little case work they do), the middle-class worker bees that need to be constantly put in their place and constantly reminded that they are shit, and the people that should be ruined by being targeted (at ANY cost, to include lies, B.S., and any other games).

Swearingen loves this because he is in the "Elite" class and in turn they validate him (in his mind). He does not stand for all and I would suspect it to keep getting worse until he's gone.

[Unregistered]

After doing a hard, long run on South Beach and arriving at the office it's frustrating to see all the fat agents that don't care about really being a police officer but are just after a paycheck. The green uniforms represent all the hard work that the fatties and wanna-be's don't want to do because they'd rather sit around binging on netflix. There's always an excuse. And the non-SOT guys are a step back in just about every category, just look around. The jealousy of the SOT guys is what you are really about.

[Unregistered]

Ever seen a Regional Armorer give a new gun to one of the newer guys that has less experience but is pumped up because he's on the favorite list? *Yep*.

[Unregistered]

This is all interesting and everything, but I'm more curious as to who they are going to ruin/F**k with over this Christmas at a regional level? There has to be some civil servant that has given their life to public service at FDLE that RS is willing to run over and laugh at.

[notsot]

With the MROC armorer, if you're not SOT (or the female firearms armorer he brags that he's bed buddies with), you're irrelevant. In a supervisors meeting his name came up and the consensus was he's not very bright and can't do investigations. It seems the armorer position has become like POS. If you can't get along with people or you are just a total screw up, they put you there.

[Unregistered]

With the MROC armorer, if you're not SOT (or the female firearms armorer he brags that he's bed buddies with), you're irrelevant. In a supervisors meeting his name came up and the consensus was he's not very bright and can't do investigations. It seems the armorer position has become like POS. If you can't get along with people or you are just a total screw up, they put you there.

Just about every regional armorer operates on ego to compensate for lack of investigative ability and uses the training guise to get out of reports, assignments, and real Agent work. Then in training events will degrade those that really can do investigative work so they feel better about themselves. Seen it many, many times. They also create a protective group around them by giving them equipment, ammo, or whatever so they can glide along cashing in a paycheck.

For SOT guys to get 5% while other specialty investigative squads don't would be a slap in the face to everyone.