FL Departments

[Jones]

Does anyone know of any departments that are presently hiring in Florida? I have applications for the State Police and St Pete?

Thank you
Semper Fi

[Delta_V]

Are you Florida certified or do you need to go through an academy? I'll assume from where you're applying that you're interested in large agencies. Most big departments down there are hiring now (BSO, Tampa, Miami-Dade, Orlando, Jacksonville), but some require you to be certified.

I know BSO, Jacksonville, Metro Dade and Orlando will put you through the academy, but many other agencies down there require you to put yourself through the academy (or at least be in one) before you apply.

[Jones]

No, I am not FL certified. I knew that would be a problem applying to departments in Florida. I'll take a look at some of the departments you mentioned.

Thanks
S/F

[Marid]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by Jones:
<strong>No, I am not FL certified. I knew that would be a problem applying to departments in Florida. I'll take a look at some of the departments you mentioned.

Thanks
S/F</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">It's a bit easier to get certified in Florida, as long as you have a good grip on LE knowledge. You can take a two-week standardization course, which is meant for officers from other states, as well as military police. After you take the two-week course, you can take the Florida State Standards Test, and you don't need to be sponsored by an agency to take it. (This was as of early 2001, when I inquired; Deployments and an upcoming PCS move got my attention after that)

Patrick: When you talk about an academy, are you talking about a city/metro-run program? Okaloosa County and surrounding area doesn't require anything close to that....But I'm in the panhandle; it's like a different country in comparison.

[Delta_V]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by Marid:
<strong>Patrick: When you talk about an academy, are you talking about a city/metro-run program? Okaloosa County and surrounding area doesn't require anything close to that....But I'm in the panhandle; it's like a different country in comparison.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'm talking about one of <a href="http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/CJST/Training_Resources/tc.html" target="_blank">these</a> places. As you can see, most of these academies are not city run but there are several exceptions. The original poster didn't say whether or not he was already a LEO, so the two week course may not be an option for him.

<small>[ 12-30-2002, 11:56 PM: Message edited by: PatrickM98 ]</small>

[Marid]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by PatrickM98:
<strong> </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by Marid:
<strong>Patrick: When you talk about an academy, are you talking about a city/metro-run program? Okaloosa County and surrounding area doesn't require anything close to that....But I'm in the panhandle; it's like a different country in comparison.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'm talking about one of <a href="http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/CJST/Training_Resources/tc.html" target="_blank">these</a> places. As you can see, most of these academies are not city run but there are several exceptions. The original poster didn't say whether or not he was already a LEO, so the two week course may not be an option for him.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Gotcha. The Okaloosa-Walton CC here has coursework that looks pretty close to it, but most military LE take the two week equivilancy course. From what I understand (again this is a year out of date), you don't necassarily need to be certified by another agency or state to qualify for the course; the certification process comes from taking the standards test in Tallahassee, which I THINK just requires that you've completed such coursework, and you don't have to be sponsered by an agency. A few of our MP's are certified, and the military usually doesn't count as a valid sponser.

[R.White]

In addition to much of the above, also be advised that many FL depts, especially the better, larger and higher paying ones, such as Jacksonville, require a minimum of an AS or AA degree or at least 60 hours of college course work. Some larger south FL dept's and state agencies have dropped this requirement because they couldn't get enough applicants. State agencies tend to pay less than the larger local agencies and are less popular because you can bet that your first duty station will be in a less desirable area such as south FL. South FL dept's pay higher wages but living conditions, especially housing, cost much more and the working conditions are (I'll be kind and only say) "less appealing", unless, of course, you like constantly working in an over populated, crime ridden, traffic congested, battle field type atmosphere! Good luck! RW <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

[Jones]

Patrick - Got your PM. Thanks!

Just curious - what departments are hurting for officers? I've heard the State Police are undermanned (some 30-40% at times), but they like it that way.

S/F