Skip to main content

These are averages so bear with me if a figure is a little out of place.

Police officer academy, if one had to pay for it
cost average $4000.00
1st year training cost average $31,000

That is a total of $35,000 in one year.

Now if you lose 5 police officers or firefighters to another city cost is $175,000 per year. In five years cost would be $875,000

So yes it is important to keep trained police officers and firefighters.

You can always go out and hire new ones, but is the cost factor really worth is, I don't think so, do the math.

Experience is better than in-experience, no matter how you add the math.
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

quote:
Originally posted by up the street:
Florence doesnt hire non certified fireman and police officers so your your thread means nothing to Florence residents.


So your saying that every police officer or firefigher is certified before they are hired on that's is not right, can you prove or give me the figures on that.

I can make two phone calls and prove that a lot of officers were not certified before they were hired.
And how many of them certified officers have left and went to other cities or to a federal agency, how much of that training did Sheffield, Tuscumbia, Muscle Shoals or even Florence lose. And that along is not just all of the training besides the police academy that it cost to trained this men and women who does the best that they can do, to see that each and everyone one of us are safe.
Bluesman, you are correct. I was employed at Florence for many years and there were numerous times where non-certified people were employed over certified. Only the city of Muscle Shoals requires certification in our area to apply for police officer. One theory has been that it is better to take someone without habits of policing somewhere else and train them from the start in the mold of Florence PD. I can't speak on the fire department.
That is not what your thread was about. You were wrong in the thread you posted. Know your facts before you post................. verdane is wrong post some names why dont you. yeah what i thought. And I guess Monster is in the field too, so he should know. You would have to give me numbers as what the police and fire dept spend in this area what they spend on certifying officers and fireman to convince me otherwise.
Last edited by up the street
quote:
Originally posted by up the street:
Florence doesnt hire non certified fireman and police officers so your your thread means nothing to Florence residents. Neither does Sheffield or Muscle Shoals. Only Tuscumbia which means Tuscumbia is only a training center for them people. Whats your point to mean for the people in the Shoals area.
so thats why florence has rookie school every summer to "certify" the new hires? and thats why muscle shoals has 2 non-certified new hires in florences rookie school? hmmmm....

when they advertise for open positions, they specify either certified or non-certified. they all hire non-certified at some point, and send them thru school. it happens every year.
Monster:

Not to belabor the point, but Florence does not have a rookie school for police officers. They send the rookies to the Northeast Alabama Academy at Jacksonville State University. Florence Fire has an academy located on Chisholm Road which is regional academy which other cities send their firefighters to.

If you notice in the Times Daily when there is a posting for police officer applicants, they must specify if certification is required or not. Many smaller cities try to recruit certified officers because of the cost that Bluesman eluded to as well as the fact you will be short that person for the 12 week academy.

It is only in recent years that you were required to be a certified officer to run for Sheriff. That is because someone would run for sheriff, get elected and be gone for 3 months of their term in the academy.
quote:
Originally posted by verdane:
Monster:

Not to belabor the point, but Florence does not have a rookie school for police officers. They send the rookies to the Northeast Alabama Academy at Jacksonville State University. Florence Fire has an academy located on Chisholm Road which is regional academy which other cities send their firefighters to.
sorry for not being specific. I was referring to fire, not police.
its perfectly fine with me if you dont agree but calling people names just goes to show what kind of person you really are Donna c. If you have a personal relationship with the bluesman thats fine, its just shows what kind of woman you are. But I didnt come on a public forum and call people names just because I didnt agree with them. I guess selfsenteredness is what you are all about. You just showed everybody what kind of person you really are. Thank You.
Wow you are right but, there is not a shortage in the Shoals area, we have a fine force here. I do thank you for pointing out the shortage every where else and there is. I thought you where talking about the Shoals area, sorry. And I would like to extend a hand of thanks to the men and women that protect us everyday in this area. They deserve the salutes of every man and woman in this area. They are the ones that make this area one of the top 20 places in the United States to live that are crime free or the lowest and I as so many others thank you for a safe community, your the best.
Street,
I work at FPD, and I'm a Field Training Officer (FTO). I can tell you from first hand knowledge that we do hire non-certified personnel and occassionaly the need arises to hire Certified personnel. This last group we had 4 cert and 3 non-sworn recruits. One trainee is just getting released from the FTO program and one just entered the academy, and the third hasn't even started employment yet. Usually when Florence has a big hire (3-4 positions) maybe one of those is a certified officer. I can tell you from experience, as a certified officer from another agency, it took three application processes for me to get hired. They hired non-sworn over me on several occassions.
-----------------------------------------------
Quote
If two people apply to the job in each field and one is certified they will hire the certified one, dont tell me something I know for a fact, they will not pay for someone to be certified. Make your phone calls and give names of people you know that tell you them lies because I'll call them and question it to their face.
-----------------------------------------------
I don't know where you got your "facts", but you're wrong. I can't tell you what the hiring stats are for FFD. If you're interested, contact the City's personnel office and ask them how many certified applicants and non-certified applicants got hired in the past hirings. Did you apply to one of these agencies and not get hired? I sense a hint of hostility in your statements. If you have any questions feel free to ask me..although, I will not give out any names or px-numbers.
Many of the municipalities (Rogersville, Killen etc.) only hire post-certified because most of them don't have the funds to send a recruit to the academy, but the cities tend to pull from both pools of recruits and it works well to keep budgets balanced and good officers on the street. I do know Rogersville has sent a few to the academy though and I think Killen has too. When the funds are there "fresh meat" is usually the best option like others have said.

I do know that regardless of whether post certified or not -- the hiring process is extensive for Florence and Muscle Shoals and that alone helps to weed out the highly qualified from the mediocre at times...Personally, I am glad for those hoops because that means you can't just hire a gung-ho rookie and throw him on the street with a badge and gun without the proper training.
Last edited by DixieChik
quote:
Originally posted by up the street:
Florence doesnt hire non certified fireman and police officers so your your thread means nothing to Florence residents. Neither does Sheffield or Muscle Shoals. Only Tuscumbia which means Tuscumbia is only a training center for them people. Whats your point to mean for the people in the Shoals area.


So I have a friend that was hired by Sheffield PD before he was certified....do you want his number, too?
To throw another fact into this discussion, the Alabama State Troopers have recently started hiring certified police officers and sending them through an abbreviated trooper academy that gets them on the road faster and at less cost. The troopers also have the traditional non-certified trooper academy that still last about 20-22 weeks.

Thanks for the good post huckleberry!
quote:
Originally posted by Firedancer:
quote:
Originally posted by up the street:
Florence doesnt hire non certified fireman and police officers so your your thread means nothing to Florence residents. Neither does Sheffield or Muscle Shoals. Only Tuscumbia which means Tuscumbia is only a training center for them people. Whats your point to mean for the people in the Shoals area.


So I have a friend that was hired by Sheffield PD before he was certified....do you want his number, too?


Boy, up the street, you are so off base. I was interviewed and placed on the hire list for the Sheffield PD when we lived in the Shoals and if I had been hired, they would have sent me to Jacksonville to become trained and certified. Unfortunately, while weight training I injured my shoulder pretty badly and had to remove myself from the list because I couldn't pass several of the physical training tests after my injury. Most U.S. cities of any size whatsoever hire non-certified men and women to become their law enforcement officers and they pay them the minimum salary while they are in training. If they didn't do that, we would have even fewer LEOs than we already do in this country. Think about it...about the only way you can get anything resembling that kind of training is if you are an MP in the military. Even then, you are required to attend an abbreviated version because military policing is still quite different from civilian.
quote:
Originally posted by Anony:
Who in the hell in their right mind would want to be a cop and but up with all the bull they have to put up with from the public......

Anony,
A person with integrity, and pride in his community and family. A person that puts up with all the "bull", just to help that one person that makes it all worthwhile. One that wants his family to be safe in their everyday lives, and wishes the same for others. One that will stand up for what's right in the face of adversity. One that has the guts to put a stop to a dangerous encouter while others run away. I guess I could keep going on, but I won't. Next time you see/need an officer, thank that person for what they're doing for you and your family.
quote:
Originally posted by colbertcounty1:
If a town sends a person to the academy and that person quits in the first two years of employment, the town hiring that person must reimburse the town for all training costs.

Most towns hire both cert and non-cert.



Not sure about your town but that is not true in Florence.... Now if you are hired in Florence and you leave to go to another city in the first year the other city to where the employee is going will reimburse Florence... Florence will do this as well when hiring someone from another city... But the employee does not pay a thing..
I got my information by making a phone call to a LEO in the FPD last night. After talking to him today he informed me that he told me wrong. He didnt what me to post his name on here although I should for misinforming me but its against the rules anyway. Im sorry for giving the wrong info but thats what I was told last night. But I didnt come on here last night and call Bluesman names like what was done to me by Donna C but after reading some of her posts under her profile I see why she is so bitter. I would not lower myself to come on here and call people names and hide behind a computer screen. Goes to show what kind of life some people live, full of hate. Next time Ill use to resources before I posts, sorry Bluesman.
Just to verify something for the FFD. I do work there and we have hired non-certified people over certified. I know there was a Sheffield firefighter trying to get hired and they hired some others that had no certification. Just in the past 6-7 years our turnover rate has become common. when I came to work 15 years ago, it was unheard of someone leaving. These young guys see the writing on the wall and can leave for better pay and advancement. 15 years in and I can't go anywhere!! Family, retirement, my age; all this weighs in against me.
That is why we need a real raise. The economy is going to hinder this need greatly!
quote:
Originally posted by colbertcounty1:
If a town sends a person to the academy and that person quits in the first two years of employment, the town hiring that person must reimburse the town for all training costs.

Most towns hire both cert and non-cert.


this is not a true statedment. they have to pay back for the academy, but not the gas the food and the pay for the time that he is gone. not counting the time that they are short on shift. so nothing meant but check your facts before you post.

Add Reply

Post

Untitled Document
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×