The Plant City Police Department has eight open positions for new officers, which will remain open until they are filled.
“Retirements hit us hard,” Lt. Jerry Stwan said. “We’ve had four retire just in the last couple of months.”
All four of those former officers had entered the police department’s Deferred Retirement Option Plan. After an officer has worked for 20 years or more, he or she can enter the program, which allows employment to continue while retirement money is being invested.
“It’s a program that was designed to keep your experienced people on the job longer,” Stwan said.
But, DROP has a time limit: Eight years after an officer enters the program, he or she must retire.
The fifth vacancy was created when one officer transferred to the Tampa Police Department. The remaining vacancies were not atypical.
“It seems like we’ve always got a couple of openings,” Stwan said. “But, it’s better than Hillsborough County having 100 openings, or TPD having 50 openings all the time.”
For now, some of the 59 officers on staff are taking on extra responsibilities to cover for the openings. But, Plant City’s safety will not be compromised.
“The backbone of this department is the patrol unit, so No. 1, we want to make sure that they are fully staffed,” Stwan said.
The first step in the application process is to fill out an application form either in-person at the police center, or electronically through the police department’s website.
Qualified applicants will first be subject to an oral board at the police center. If the command staff like what they see in the applicant, they will conduct a thorough background investigation on him or her. After that is a polygraph test, then a psychological test and then a physical test. Finally, if an applicant passes all of these checkpoints, he or she will have a one-on-one interview with Police Chief Ed Duncan.
“We have extremely high standards for the people we hire, and no matter how short we get, we’re not going to let that slip,” Stwan said.
The base salary for Plant City officers is $42,915.60. Benefits include medical and a take-home car policy. After at least 20 years of work, retired officers are eligible for 75% of their pay.
For more information applicants can contact Officer Mark Dunnam, who will be handling recruitment.
Contact Catherine Sinclair at csinclair@plantcityobserver.com.