Citrus County Sheriff's Office

[3RDGENCOP]

My wife and I are considering to relocate to Florida with our three boys. I"ve been in L.E. for 12 years with 6.5 years in Florida. I started searching and came across C.C.S.O., which I thought had a great recruiting video and I was hoping someone could answer some questions for me.
1) the pay.....is there a salary step plan, how long to top out, what is the pay, do "laterals" start off higher based on years of experience, how often are the raises?
2) is there a contract / union?....if not, why?....wrong region of fla.?
3)dental, health, vision insurance.....cost for family coverage and who is the company?
4)opportunity for promotions.....testing or not
5)patrol's schedule.....five 8's, four 10's, etc....and does senority mean anything?
6)opportunity for overtime......if yes....paid, comp time, "flexed" or deputy's choice? and does "time and half" start after 80 hours?
7)opportunity for off-duty details.....none, alittle or alot? and hourly rate?
8)court pay.....for "must appear" and/or "standby"......3 hr. min.?
9)take home car.....to and from work only?, personal use ok in the county? and does the deputy pay a percentage towards cost of fuel?
10)firearm provided or cost of deputy.....and can I carry my patrol rifle?
Thanks in advance for your response. I liked what I saw on the SO's recruiting video, would like to go back to the FRS and was impressed with the county school dist rating. Just trying to find a good place in fla. to raise my boys and grow old with my wife, and hoping find a department compares in pay / benefits to what I was use to in south fla.
The pros / cons to the SO....How accurate was the video?....I know no place is perfect.

[Florida Smokey]

I don't work FOR CCSO, but I have worked WITH them for 10 years. It's a pretty good department and the Deputies are a great bunch of people. I consider many of them to be very good friends. I'll try to answer some of your questions, but keep in mind that I don't work there, so my information might be off a little bit.

I don't think they have a set step pay plan. Deputies were receiving merit and cost of living raises, but I think they just eliminated the merit raises to save money now that Amendment 1 has passed. Experienced new hires do get a little more money, but I think it is only one or two thousand a year more.

CCSO is not union. They had the option to vote one in a couple years ago, but opted not to.

The family health insurance is pretty high. The cost depends on the number of family members on your plan.

They test for promotional opportunities. It's still a relatively small department, so the promotions don't happen very often.

They work the standard 12 hour shift rotation. They go from days to nights every 28 days.

Patrol deputies are required to offset any overtime, including court overtime. They do have several off duty details. I think the rate of pay for those is $17.50 an hour.

The take home car policy recently changed. I don't think they are allowed to use it for personal use any more due to the high cost of gas.

The department issues each deputy a Glock, an AR-15 and a taser.

Again, my answers might be a little off, but hopefully it will give you a little help.

Take care an be safe.
F.S.

[ftlaudcop]

and most important, your working at the sheriff's pleasure

[soontobefwc]

I grew up in citrus county, I would really recommend it as a place to raise a family. I lived in Crystal River. I'm not fully aware of the LE situation in the area, so I won't comment on that. I have met the Sheriff, Dawsy, a couple times though, nice guy.