FHP Bound

[pyro2]

Hello all,
I am just finishing up my AA in criminology (summer of '08) and am looking forward to getting into the FHP academy. It has been my lifelong dream to become a state trooper, even before i even knew i was going to live here (weird, huh?).
Anyways, if you know of any pointers for me to look into, or anything I should to do prepare, let me know. This looks like a good forum with a lot of professionals.

Two other departments I was looking into are the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office and the Tampa Police Department. I know people in both, but have never had a ride along with any officer from them, so if you know of a source to line those up so i can compare, that would be great. They both pay more, but theres something about FHP, as well as some personal reasons that i want to join them.

Thanks for any info/help in advance!
:cool:

[luckydog]

theres something about FHP, as well as some personal reasons that i want to join them.

You want to do all of my traffic crashes for me? I have heard a lot of good things about Hillsborough SO. The only tip I have for you is make sure that you can run. Good luck wherever you go and remember to keep your mouth shut during the academy.

[damode]

All i know is there is an academy for FHP coming up and that will be in March.

If you think youll be done before march with your AA, i would suggest to apply with them right now

[pyro2]

no, im only 35 credits into the degree, at minimum 2.5 semesters left.

[damode]

Your showing good initiative then.

Try and call or visit your local fhp station to see if they have any internship spots available, or see if you can do anything.

Also, FHP has a big auxillary program. Check out their website to see if maybe that interests you.

They train you (not the real deal in the academy, but good enough). They arm you and etc and you ride as a backup to a full-time FHP.

Your not being paid, but basicly they work around your schedule, all you gotta do is like 32 hours during a quarter, a quarter being 4 months (i could be wrong), and your getting experience.

Im sure you can easily continue to go to school, and have enough spare time to get your hours in as an auxillary.

If I had 2.5 semesters left for an AA, and im deadset for being a trooper, i would definately go for the auxillary, or see if they offer internships.

[luckydog]

Usually a quarter is 3 months. 4 quarters at 3 months each would equal 12 months per year.

[pyro2]

Your showing good initiative then.

Try and call or visit your local fhp station to see if they have any internship spots available, or see if you can do anything.

Also, FHP has a big auxillary program. Check out their website to see if maybe that interests you.

They train you (not the real deal in the academy, but good enough). They arm you and etc and you ride as a backup to a full-time FHP.

Your not being paid, but basicly they work around your schedule, all you gotta do is like 32 hours during a quarter, a quarter being 4 months (i could be wrong), and your getting experience.

Im sure you can easily continue to go to school, and have enough spare time to get your hours in as an auxillary.

If I had 2.5 semesters left for an AA, and im deadset for being a trooper, i would definately go for the auxillary, or see if they offer internships.
One step ahead of ya, they don't have any internships, and i asked and my mentor from HS (state trooper) said it wouldn't do me any good to go into the auxiliary before hand. :/

[damode]

One step ahead of ya, they don't have any internships, and i asked and my mentor from HS (state trooper) said it wouldn't do me any good to go into the auxiliary before hand. :/

Then enjoy college :)

[StudChris]

One step ahead of ya, they don't have any internships, and i asked and my mentor from HS (state trooper) said it wouldn't do me any good to go into the auxiliary before hand. :/

That's the first time I've ever heard ANYONE say that doing reserve/aux/part time for an agency wouldn't help you get in full time.

[damode]

That's the first time I've ever heard ANYONE say that doing reserve/aux/part time for an agency wouldn't help you get in full time.

I would assume the trooper meant that you wont get preference for being an auxillary over any other person :confused:

Either way, being able to train and work side by side with a full-time trooper and the chance to learn and pick their minds, is nothing but Positive things thatll help you mature and advance closer to your career in my opinion.

[pyro2]

I would assume the trooper meant that you wont get preference for being an auxillary over any other person :confused:

Either way, being able to train and work side by side with a full-time trooper and the chance to learn and pick their minds, is nothing but Positive things thatll help you mature and advance closer to your career in my opinion.

i asked him and he said not to bother with it, with my going to school full time and working, i wouldnt have time, and since you are not a sworn LEO you wouldn't get any more preference over anyone. He said i would get all the training i would need from the academy.


However i was talking to someone going into the HCSO and he said something about if you have your AA or 60 cr/hr you get paid training....interesting.

[ufresdave]

If you have an 60 credits and a clean background, you're in. FHP is always hiring. Granted things may change in 1+ years, but as it stands now, youd be good. My advice would be to concentrate on school. Youll get plenty of LE at the academy and on the road. Aux woud be better for someone not planning on going into LE fulltime. I would recommend riding along with some agencies, just to get a feel for the LE environment. If anything, it will motivate you more.

[pyro2]

thanks, i have done multiple ride along with FHP, but only for a few hours, not a whole shift. i would like to do some more, and possibly one with HCSO just to see what the differences are.

I read somewhere that FHP is down 200 troopers or something because of transfers to higher paying departments. Is that true?

[ufresdave]

Yes, there is a bit of truth to this. A close friend of mine that worked with me at my current department left for FHP in 2005. He loves it, although he is a traffic man. I actually rode along with him last month and we had a great time. I got to see what they do, as compared to what a typical city agency does (where I work). They were very different. Basically, aside from 2 or 3 traffic crashes, we were left alone the entire shift to run traffic and patrol and didnt see another officer/trooper except for dinner. Depending on what interests you, FHP could be a really great agency.

He also told me that there have been many troopers who have left (especially from down south) after the state gave them a 1,000 bonus. My friend, however, has considered applying with DEP or DOT, mainly so he would not have to work traffic crashes. Apparently, bc of the manpower crunch, a good part of his shift is spent working crashes. He always jokes about the DEP officer that works his county who goes 10-8 and then is on the river all day, then goes home, while he (trooper) is 65ing 3-4 crashes a shift. All in all, he loves it and writes about 10-15 cites a shift and works a million hours of o/t a week. I dont think he is really considering leaving.

Also, I would encourage you to ride with a traditional agency, just to aid you in your decision. I am not trying to pusuade or disuade you from any agency. But there are material differences between FHP/state and SO/PD . There are pros and cons to both types of agencies. I hear a lot of criticism of FHP (some from me), but the truth is, its an agency will great, hard working troopers who enjoy their job. They may not get paid a whole of a hell lot, but last time checked, there is no agecy out there throwing money at their officers. You know getting into this career that the pay is crap, regardless of where you work. Granted, I think its horrible that the state doesnt have a step plan for state LEOs, but you can always leave when you become cynical bc new troopers make as much as you. Or maybe the state will fix this...who knows.

[damode]

If FHP paid more and had step plans, they will receive 100 applications for every spot open they have.

[frostbiteCRA]

Alright, by now most of your questions have been answered (I hope) and if you have anymore I will attempt to answer them the best I can.

Now for my 2 cents for what it's worth:

I'm a 5 year veteran of the FHP and I LOVE IT...I'm stationed in south Florida and yes like ufresdave said we work a ton of crashes. Why? Because we are a traffic agency...our mission is "Highway Safety" and crashes do happen to be a big part of our job. But let me tell you, I truly enjoy what I do. I wish we had more money in our budget and more Troopers, but we have to do what we can with what we have. And yes we are one of the lowest paid agencies in the state. But we have our perks (like every other agency out there). We have tons of overtime but overtime means time in uniform and away from the family. Trust me I wish it was not like that but hey what can we do. We are at the mercy of the state legislators when it comes to pay raises and money. Don't get me wrong, we have some of the best equipment money could buy, but not enough money to give us a decent pay raise.

For the most part you work by yourself. You don't see your Sergeant or LT for days at a time. They leave you alone and let you do your thing. A couple of the guys that I work with are former military (as I am too) and we get along great. We get together all the time and conduct our own speed details, aggressive driving details, and just have a blast.
Again, look into other agencies and see what it's you really want to do. With FHP you will do traffic all of your career (even Troopers that work in investigation, K9, corporals, Sgt, Lt's, Capts) are required to work the road every so often.
Again, look around and see what's best for you.

Frostbite

[damode]

Doing traffic is fun, you never really know whos on the other side :)

[sharkboy]

If FHP paid more and had step plans, they will receive 100 applications for every spot open they have.

You could double their pay and they would still be begging for applications. Doubling their pay would put them in line with a 4-5 year officer at a lot of agencies where you would actually be a real cop.

[damode]

You could double their pay and they would still be begging for applications. Doubling their pay would put them in line with a 4-5 year officer at a lot of agencies where you would actually be a real cop.

Lol one thing i learned from these forums and speaking to many of the oldschool vet cops i have encountered throughout my application process is that its not about running code 3 from domestic to murder, to domestic to robbery all freaking day for 25 years. Im sure that gets sickening after 3 years

All i know is that i want to have a stable career, decent pay, and make a tiny positive impact (you can make a positive impact in your community no matter where you go for your LE career).

Work 25 years and retire happy with my career and not to many grey hairs and a functioning heart and just kill time,relax and enjoy life till i drop dead in my sleep

I am sure many would agree with me.

The benefits that FHP has right now, added with decent pay and a step plan;

They would receive so many applications it would be sickening and unfair to other p.d's

And again, FHP has their job to do, its different than other p.d's but they are good at what they do.

~~~~~~~~~~

[ufresdave]

Damode, while I respect your opinion, I dont really agree. There are 40,000 pd/so officers in the state and maybe 1500 troopers; and they cant even keep their force fully staffed. Do you really think a little more money would change the mind of a majority of these 40,000 leos? I doubt it. MOST leo's want to go into a traditional LE agency with the many lateral opportunities they often provide, coupled with the stability of remaining in a specific area throughout your entire career. FHP is a good agency, but most LEOs would not prefer their mission over the traditional one, in my opinion.

[StudChris]

I disagree. I think the number 1 and 2 reasons that FHP is having the problems they are with keeping people and getting new people is because the only way you'll ever make more than the guy sitting next to you is if you move up in rank, and because they are so undermanned that 1 trooper is doing the work of 1.5 or 2.

Get the starting pay to be equal to the average in whatever area you're in, and have a step plan, and both of those issues would be adressed.

[TampaDevilDog]

Pyro...You are in my neck of the woods. I have completed the background and hiring process for HCSO, minus the Psych and Physical that should come in another week or two. I would definietly ride along with HCSO and you will get a good idea of what this agency is all about. It's a large agency that does the kind of police work I am interested in. I can tell you this though, the hiring process is SUPER competitive as the requirements in Hillsborough County have gotten really stringent. Interesting that some have stated that these agencies are having a hard time getting applicants. My BI was telling me that 1 in 50 get to my point in the hiring process. They get tons of applicants calling in and applying, however they are not qualified or get eliminated in the hiring process.
Now with the AA Degree requirement, NO tobacco use in the last 6 months, as well as NO more than 3 tickets in 5 years, the amount of qualified applicants have been depleted. (my BI was telling me he had an unbelievable candidate that just got out of the USMC and was DQ'd because he had 6 tickets in a lifetime) Oh yeah, tattoo's can also be an issue...
The things I mentioned are an auto DQ, even before they begin the process.
Not to sound arrogant, but with my life experience and background (which is pretty good) I am still not guaranteed a job. If you have any ??'s on the process, PM me. Finish up school and get good grades...

[pyro2]

im working on school...trying to rush through it asap. starting to lift weights and whatnot and work out daily to get in better shape as well. the one thing im worried about are the random responses to some questions on the poly that i have read on this site. both negative and positive reactions to questions show up the same? yikes!

[frostbiteCRA]

You could double their pay and they would still be begging for applications. Doubling their pay would put them in line with a 4-5 year officer at a lot of agencies where you would actually be a real cop.

I truly respect everyone's opinion in this forum, but does it always have to be us VS them? So you are telling me that us FHP Troopers are not real cops? What piece of information you have that I don't? last time I checked I was a sworned LEO with full arrest powers.
There are a few things that we as an agency do not handle. For example murders, rape, complex cases involving white collar crimes, and many other cases, but if you work for any PD or SO, they have detectives that handle those cases. Not the road cop. I have dealt with almost every scenario a "real cop" in the city/county deals with (of course except a few which I mentioned before). We see it all on the highways.
I dont want to add fuel to the fire or sound like FHP is better than any other agency, because we are not. But again just my 2 cents.

Frostbite

[frostbiteCRA]

Damode, while I respect your opinion, I dont really agree. There are 40,000 pd/so officers in the state and maybe 1500 troopers; and they cant even keep their force fully staffed. Do you really think a little more money would change the mind of a majority of these 40,000 leos? I doubt it. MOST leo's want to go into a traditional LE agency with the many lateral opportunities they often provide, coupled with the stability of remaining in a specific area throughout your entire career. FHP is a good agency, but most LEOs would not prefer their mission over the traditional one, in my opinion.

Believe it or not, we get a lot of applicants (call Capt Crotta in Tallahassee and He'll tell you) but as I understand it, a lot are disqualified for various reasons. FHP is not going to lower its standards just to fill a position. Right now there are only 19 applicants for the next academy that have successfully completed the hiring process, out of hundreds that applied.:D

[WNBFLA50]

I've begun the appliction process for FHP. So far, I have received a letter that my initial application has met the requirements needed to continue in the process and I have forwarded a copy of my CJBAT scores to them. I believe i am now waiting on the full application and a PAT date. :)

[frostbiteCRA]

I've begun the appliction process for FHP. So far, I have received a letter that my initial application has met the requirements needed to continue in the process and I have forwarded a copy of my CJBAT scores to them. I believe i am now waiting on the full application and a PAT date. :)

Good for you! And good luck!

[m0use19]

Hello everyone, i have been a reader for sometime now and finally decided to join the forum.

My question would be, Anyone know how long is the application/hiring process for FHP Auxiliary? i applied for MDPD (already took the CJBAT) but i know there process is quite long, so i want to see if i can get a better feel for the field alot faster, pay isnt a factor. Also i am in Miami where would i have to attend for the academy training? (if accepted)

Thank you
m0use19

[damode]

Hello everyone, i have been a reader for sometime now and finally decided to join the forum.

My question would be, Anyone know how long is the application/hiring process for FHP Auxiliary? i applied for MDPD (already took the CJBAT) but i know there process is quite long, so i want to see if i can get a better feel for the field alot faster, pay isnt a factor. Also i am in Miami where would i have to attend for the academy training? (if accepted)

Thank you
m0use19

You have a long way to go, and the auxillary will take just as long as the mdpd process.

The mdpd academy is located around Doral, but if you just finished the cj-bat

expect the process to be around 8 to 10 months :)

Dont sit around for to long, and dont even bother with the auxillary

[chfwighim]

Alright, by now most of your questions have been answered (I hope) and if you have anymore I will attempt to answer them the best I can.

Now for my 2 cents for what it's worth:

I'm a 5 year veteran of the FHP and I LOVE IT...I'm stationed in south Florida and yes like ufresdave said we work a ton of crashes. Why? Because we are a traffic agency...our mission is "Highway Safety" and crashes do happen to be a big part of our job. But let me tell you, I truly enjoy what I do. I wish we had more money in our budget and more Troopers, but we have to do what we can with what we have. And yes we are one of the lowest paid agencies in the state. But we have our perks (like every other agency out there). We have tons of overtime but overtime means time in uniform and away from the family. Trust me I wish it was not like that but hey what can we do. We are at the mercy of the state legislators when it comes to pay raises and money. Don't get me wrong, we have some of the best equipment money could buy, but not enough money to give us a decent pay raise.

For the most part you work by yourself. You don't see your Sergeant or LT for days at a time. They leave you alone and let you do your thing. A couple of the guys that I work with are former military (as I am too) and we get along great. We get together all the time and conduct our own speed details, aggressive driving details, and just have a blast.
Again, look into other agencies and see what it's you really want to do. With FHP you will do traffic all of your career (even Troopers that work in investigation, K9, corporals, Sgt, Lt's, Capts) are required to work the road every so often.
Again, look around and see what's best for you.

Frostbite

I pretty much concur with Frostbite....... Bro do what you want to do, if you want to work traffic, FHP is perfect! If you want to answer calls go to a S.O. or P.D.
FHP, is alot more self-initiated calls. BUT, most importantly.....when you get into an agency, always network......it'll pay you back in dividends with interest! AND, Do Not get a chip on your shoulder when dealing with other law enforcement agencies.