Wondering why it seems the whole state is pushing to hire LE.  How is pay over there? benefits? Pension?  General thoughts on which areas/depts to transfer to?

Fire guy here, we have the same pension, not bad but not as good as many. LEOFF-II, Law Enforcement Officers and Fire Fighters system 2. You can retire at 50 but there are many penalties, to avoid the penalties you need to work to 53. No medical is included in our pension, but my union has negotiated $900/month towards healthcare until Medicare eligible.

State Patrol has their own pension, they can retire after 25 years, but paid less than city and county cops, in general.

2% per year of service, they take your high 60 consecutive months average to figure your 2%.

Work in any of the big cities, in Western WA you can easily make 100K with just mandatory overtime, if you want to be a whore, you can make much more.  There are patrol cops making 150K, Sgts. and LT's can be even higher.

Disability is shit, all FF's and most PD have an insurance policy purchased through the union/guild. I almost had to go out on disability a year ago I have 25 years in and make $120K. My state disability Would have maxed out at about $1,400 a month, hence why we have the insurance policy.

Bright side our pension is actually well funded, but sadly we are lumped into the PERS (general .gov workers) and TERS (teachers) pensions that are lacking. And the legislature is trying to cut those pensions, raise retirement age, etc.

Our local PD only have a few hundred apply, most do not even meet the minimum qualifications and those that do, either can't pass the background check or physical. I think any of the bigger cities and counties all require a 4 year or more degree.

Much easier to get hired as a firefighter, not as much overtime, but all the other benefits, better schedule, and you are loved by the public in general.

PD's pay good money out here.  Even the Jails pay well out here. Couple dept.'s start at 30/hr.  Since they pay higher, they can set their standards much higher.  A lot of them have problems getting "qualified applicants" so they have started branching out and advertising in other states.  The State Patrol is the most notorious in their hiring standards.  Back in 08 when I tested with them, I was let go when I got a speeding ticket during my background.  It was the first one I had in 7 years.  My BI said "sorry, we have to let you go".



My best friend has been with Seattle PD for 16 years and recently left being an FTO because the quality of applicant they were actually hiring couldn't work their way out of a wet paper bag.  He said they were hiring people that had zero life experience, didn't know how to talk to people, poor critical thinking, etc.  One guy will get dumped out of FTO because he has trouble writing report but the female has been through FTO is given chance after chance after chance and still cant do it and is given a pass to complete FTO.  But I guess that's pretty typical in major metro dept.'s.  He ended up requesting a transfer off FTO.



The big reason now is that most of the agencies in the area have huge numbers of people retiring.  I deal with 8 different agencies, 2 jails and a prison every day.  I hear a lot of complaints of how short handed everyone is and that its getting worse with people retiring.  The local county jail has 13 holes they have to fill just on the swing shift.  Everyone is very short handed.



So couple high hiring standards with massive retirements and since no one planned ahead for it, they are in a massive hiring blitz.

Thanks for the insight.  I'm looking to move out of MI, just don't know where to go.

Spokane PD and County are always hiring and they love laterals.  Spokane PD beats out everything around (in eastern WA) as far as wages go and they get their pick of any applicants.
They have had a rough time with the media in regards to OIS, but the place is a dump with a large revolving population of felons.

Wow Seattle pays well

Damn near unlimited overtime also

A number of dept.'s out here now have a 5K or better highering bonus.

I'm intrigued. Cost of living seems a bit high though.

The cost of living in most areas is very high.  You can move further away to find cheaper housing but then you are now dealing with horrible traffic and making a long day even longer.  A lot of the guys coming in from other agencies learn real quick how the higher pay doesnt always mean better living conditions.

pretty much tis, look at some real estate websites.

A home in Seattle for $500K is a fixer upper, that needs a lot of work.

traffic sucks and is getting worse.

It will make for a good pension if you move away, but otherwise, the cost of living vs. pay, makes that pay not seem like so much.

IF you got on with an outlaying department, and live further out from Seattle you will have similar pay, and a SLIGHTLY lower cost of living.

CJTC job listings.