[FLTPR]

I'M INTERESTED TO KNOW HOW FLORIDIANS FEEL ABOUT LAW ENFORCEMENT IN FLORIDA. IT WOULD ACTUALLY BE INTERESTING TO KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT CERTAIN AGENCIES: COUNTY, CITY, HIGHWAY PATROL, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, MARINE PATROL, ECT. ANY WAR STORIES OR MEMORABLE STORIES? I WOULD LOVE TO SHARE WHAT FLORIDIANS THINK ABOUT US WITH MY CO-WORKERS. BE SAFE GUYS, IT'S CRAZY OUT THERE!!!!

[markhunt]

I hear there is a shortage a FHP in Central Florida due to the low starting salary.
FHP Current Salaries and Benefits

In my home state of Connecticut it is $36,000/yr while in training and then after training $46,000. http://www.das.state.ct.us/exam/Trooper/dps_Benefits.htm (broken link)

Florida is more dangerous than CT and probably has about 5-6 times more people as well. The troopers here just don't get paid enough.

As far as my experience with county law enforcement, I have lived in Orange, Osceola, and Polk counties. There are just not enough deputies to go around. I have a lot of respect for Sheriff Grady Judd and have been very much impressed with the Polk County sheriff’s office in general. I was most dissatisfied with Orange county sheriff Kevin Beary (not the deputies).

Law enforcement does not get paid enough here in Florida, and government needs to cut back on all the fat in the budget and pay our teachers and law enforcement more money. We also need to build more prisons and enforce the immigration laws already on the books.

[Prettygyrl777]

Well personally speaking, in my area I rely on the Sheriffs Dept more than I do the local police force. (I live in Port St. Lucie). I havent had much experience with the city officers (never had much of a reason) but it seems like the deputies are more present/knowledgeable/experienced in my opinion than the city cops. I could be generalizing but thats my impression. For ex. my neighbor's kid went missing and in a few hours, the sheriffs dept was out with the helicopters, dogs, etc looking for him. I saw more deps than local cops out there searching. Also, as far as Ft. Pierce is concerned (the neighboring city in our county) there seems to be a greater presence of the sheriffs dept there, too. They're just more visible.

[Eastern Roamer]

I've never had an encounter with police that I didn't deserve or initiate - minor stuff. It seems police just do their job, I haven't seen or heard of the notorious power-tripping kind of police like in some places, not to name any (Detroit) cities.
Florida is full of crazy a**holes and I have a great deal of respect for the police officers who have to deal with them. Cooperation goes a long way with these cops. I'm speaking from Jacksonville and Tampa experiences... South Florida can be a different story.

[~peaches~]

I live in Bradenton, I have never had an encounter with Manatee's finest, and don't plan to.

I have noticed patrol cars are few and far between down here, maybe because I live on the west side. It is sad that the state of Fl can not pay police officers a fair salary and put more patrol cars on the roads.

I moved from GA to New York last year. I moved to Suffolk county, patrol officers are on every single corner and if you look at Suffolk and Nasseu crime rates, it is the lowest in the country. If you look at the census FL and NY are almost neck and neck with population, and the FL census doesn't count snowbirds. So why can't FL get their stuff together?

WHY WHY WHY doesn't state government do anything about the pay and put more patrol cars on our streets??!!??!! I commend any officer that steps out on the street and puts his life on the line to protect and serve, I don't know how you guys do it.

[AONE]

I think you are asked to make up budgets via the ticketing process which is nothing more than another tax. When a city budgets the ticket revenue, then it becomes an essential part of your duties. When you are tasked to deal with someone that is going 6 mph over the speed limit then you can't spend your time protecting the people by dealing with burglaries, murders , rapes or the other offenses that affect us.
I think the power of the police is great and unfortunately it can be abused at the sacrafic of our rights.
I find it unconscionable when police commit the acts they ticket the masses for and there is no consequences. If you pull over a cop for an infraction ticket him as you would any other. You have this habit of "protecting your own" it is the people you are to "protect"
I think there are some that are way too agresssive and should not be in their roles. The majority are hard working under paid people that need the support of the public. but they need to work with the public to rebuild the trust and respect there once was for the profession. A few bad apples have spoiled the view for the good ones.
I think it is unfortunate we allow the sale of machine guns and assault weapons and place you in harms way. I think we have created a bureaucracy that has created an impossible task for the few of you that chose to do what you are doing.
I think if you would stand for the ideal and do the right thing you will receive support form the community as they largely go about their business and never notice the tasks you have to do.
You have a thankless job. For those that do it well I appreciate your efforts. For those under performers, overly agressive, power abusers... get out of the business. and do something your excess testosterone won't cause hurt to others.
Drive safe out there and be careful. If I see you in need I will help.

[LM1]

Originally Posted by markhunt

Law enforcement does not get paid enough here in Florida, and government needs to cut back on all the fat in the budget and pay our teachers and law enforcement more money.

The problem is one of standards; Florida's Law Enforcement standards are dreadfully low.
I agree 100% that we should pay law enforcement officers much, much more, but the trade-off is that we no longer hire any yokel off the street after 6 months in a community-college "police academy".

Pay them well, but vet them just as well- psychological tests, physical fitness tests, personality tests (<-- a big one- it's high time we did away with the Moderator cut: named people that seem to make up a huge portion of the LE base, in NEFL anyway...) and I firmly believe that IQ tests should go right along with it. If you can't do basic algebra or solve certain puzzles, then you aren't smart enough to hold the authority that comes with being a cop and you can go do something else. Right now, based on what I've encountered, I seriously doubt if some of these "officers" could quickly answer a question from the single-digit multiplication table without using their fingers.

At present, any given deputy in any given Florida county simply isn't the caliber of person who really deserves to be paid much- not to say that high-caliber people don't exist in Florida law enforcement... it's just that I'm not seeing them (I guess they have all the office jobs). No, I've never been done wrong by them- they've always been very polite to me, as I am to them. It's simply a matter of quality- no more, no less. They deserve better, we deserve better.

We also need to build more prisons and enforce the immigration laws already on the books.

We already incarcerate more people per-capita than any other nation on the planet... I really don't think we need to build anymore prisons, rather, we need to examine the offenses that we incarcerate people for. It used to be that incarceration only came as a result of severe breaches of the public standards-- thefts, robberies, rapes, murders... Now, we lock people up for anything and everything, including things that aren't even that serious.

I don't think we need new prisons. I think we need less laws that attempt to regulate every single thing we do in our daily lives.
The "land of the free" thing is a total myth. It used to be that way- not anymore.

[riveree]

My experiences with the police in Jax has been pretty positive.

I don't enjoy getting speeding tickets of course, and I find Jax police to be no nonsense - they're not too quick to cut you a break - but if I'm breaking the law, then I'm breaking the law so I can't really expect any favors.

Outside of those encounters, I've been involved with the Sheriff's Office on a different level (civic) and found them to be wonderful. They've been informed, interested, resourceful and efficient.

Having 840 square miles to cover, our police force is spread thin and that can lead to issues. We're also operating on a very tight budget compared to other cities in Florida. There is definitely room for police improvement in Jax, but I think most of the issues are externally sourced and not internal to the police force itself.

[mrs1885]

Unfortunately it's people like AONE that made working in law enforcement in Naples so lousy. They seem to think that if they break the law just a little they should be forgiven. Sorry, but there are many criminals caught through traffic stops, so your comment that:

When you are tasked to deal with someone that is going 6 mph over the speed limit then you can't spend your time protecting the people by dealing with burglaries, murders , rapes or the other offenses that affect us.

is false. The fact that they are out there stopping people that break the traffic laws is keeping you safe.

Also, it's comments like "I saw a deputy speeding in his patrol car for no reason and he didn't get in trouble so why should I" that infuriate me. Just because a deputy is speeding and doesn't have his lights or sirens on, doesn't mean he isn't going to a high priority call. There were many times that I cleared my deputies 1018X, which means they are authorized to speed, however not to use their lights and sirens. It doesn't happen often, but it happens, so Joe Public shouldn't be jumping to conclusions. It's also the same citizen that complains about that who will call and *itch you out because there's a branch scraping your bedroom window in the middle of the night and you think it's a prowler. Then they aren't driving fast enough, are they?

These guys go out night after night, day after day, putting on a uniform that makes them an easy mark. They'll jump in front of a bullet to save your life, even if they don't know you, and even if they've had to arrest you before. And they'll never think twice about doing it. They leave home, walking away from the front door where their wife and children wave good-bye, hoping to God they make it home alive to have dinner with them that night, or that they arrive in time to make their kids pancakes for breakfast the next morning. And all you can do is focus on anything you perceive as negative. How pathetic can you get??

I'm sorry, but I was born into a long line of law enforcement. My mother was a phenomenal cop's wife. I saw what she went through. I remember the middle of the night phone call saying the helicopter he was in was shot down. I also remember her freaking out when he showed up alive several hours later. Miscommunication.

My husband retired due to medical disability in May 06. He got out just in time. We've got 3 sons and a daughter wanting desperately to go into law enforcement. While I'm so proud of them for wanting to give something back to the public, I'm very concerned for them. The laws have been so totally turned around to protect the criminal and send the deputies up the creek. Makes you wonder what's going to happen to the public when the good guys get tired of being thrown under the bus, doesn't it?

[Tarastomsgirl]

Originally Posted by LM1

Pay them well, but vet them just as well- psychological tests, physical fitness tests, personality tests (<-- a big one- it's high time we did away with the Moderator cut: named people that seem to make up a huge portion of the LE base, in NEFL anyway...) and I firmly believe that IQ tests should go right along with it. If you can't do basic algebra or solve certain puzzles, then you aren't smart enough to hold the authority that comes with being a cop and you can go do something else. Right now, based on what I've encountered, I seriously doubt if some of these "officers" could quickly answer a question from the single-digit multiplication table without using their fingers.

.

My husband is a police officer in Nh currently trying to get re-hired in Fla... NH academy is one of the hardest in the country to graduate from. Think boot camp slightly easier than the Marines. My husband lived on "base" for 4 months, did military style everything, was not allowed phone calls, computers, laptops etc.. They even told him how he would eat. eg never look down at your food stare straight ahead one hand in your lap, feet 30 degree angle heels together, eat wipe mouth eat wipe mouth. Oddly enough NH has one of the lowest crime rates in the country, behind Maine and Vermont.. Yet they're extreamly strick in LE training.. Now that being said, the Fla academy.. I can only speak for Naples is a JOKE.. Monday 9-5 non military style class work.. I could pass it, and I'm disabled! And Fla is no crimefree paradise... Something must be done to up the standards for the academies in Fla...

They do however do psycological tests, physical etc. My husband for Fla when he worked there had to see a shrink for a personality test, do a lie detector, have a full physical, take various math, english etc test and have interview after interview.. All in all it took 6-7 months to get hired by the sheriffs office. So they do put them through rigours interviewing if you wanna call it that.. But sometimes the crazies slip through