Applied to be an Officer

[VT1032]

The thing with federal pay is that since federal employees work nationwide, the base rate will always look meh. There will be a bunch of modifiers to the pay, such as locality, and specific for many LEO jobs LEAP or AUO, which on their own can equal 25% on top of your base pay and locality.

A CBP officer in Vermont starts out making the state median pay for a Vermont police officer with a few years of service, and is making in 4-6 years what a VSP Trooper maxes out at the end of his/her career. Certainly not meh.

Yeah, I know the base pay isn't the whole story, and like I said, it looks like once you're in the pay climbs rapidly. These were GS7 positions though, so starting base pay was $35,000. What does locality pay work out to? Is it comparable to BAH? I'm assuming between the locality pay and the other stuff you mentioned that would get the starting pay into the mid 40's range then?

[andre3k]

FWIW, I would definitely look into a larger agency to start off with. More variety in job assignments, better promotional opportunities, and usually better pay / benefits. I work for a large agency and its nice when you get to start off fresh in a new assignment when you get burned out. YOU WILL BURN OUT. I just promoted last year and life is good again and this should hold me over long enough to get my 20. Just keep your options open, departments are hiring everywhere.

[TGS]

Yeah, I know the base pay isn't the whole story, and like I said, it looks like once you're in the pay climbs rapidly. These were GS7 positions though, so starting base pay was $35,000. What does locality pay work out to? Is it comparable to BAH? I'm assuming between the locality pay and the other stuff you mentioned that would get the starting pay into the mid 40's range then?

Locality isn't comparable to BAH, but helps. I get 29% of my base pay since I'm assigned to NYC, plus 25% of my pay for LEAP (similar to AUO but by law is only for investigators and FAMS). I think San Francisco is at 35% or so, and DC is 24-26%. I think every area in the US gets at least 16%. If it were really fair, honestly, NYC should get well over 50%. $80k/year in most of the US will make you very nice and comfortable......$80k in NYC is basically being able to get off a ramen-diet considering the cost of living and rent, and unless your spouse is earning as well you'll likely be living in a really small apartment in a shitty area.

Here's CBPs own breakdown on their pay: https://www.cbp.gov/careers/frontlin...nefits#CompPay

I'm not sure if by "overtime" they're actually referring to AUO (which is automatic on top of your pay) plus average accrued OT.

[SsevenN]

Thanks for all the responses guys, lots of great information and direction here. It's a fascinating career it seems. Now I'm going to push my luck, you've all humored me kindly enough so far, would anyone being willing to take a look at my *REVISED* Law Enforment focused resume & cover letter and share their thoughts? (the original I sent was pretty cringe inducing I now see) I don't want to break OpSec and just throw it out in the thread....

[HCM]

Locality isn't comparable to BAH, but helps. I get 29% of my base pay since I'm assigned to NYC, plus 25% of my pay for LEAP (similar to AUO but by law is only for investigators and FAMS). I think San Francisco is at 35% or so, and DC is 24-26%. I think every area in the US gets at least 16%. If it were really fair, honestly, NYC should get well over 50%. $80k/year in most of the US will make you very nice and comfortable......$80k in NYC is basically being able to get off a ramen-diet considering the cost of living and rent, and unless your spouse is earning as well you'll likely be living in a really small apartment in a shitty area.

Here's CBPs own breakdown on their pay: https://www.cbp.gov/careers/frontlin...nefits#CompPay

I'm not sure if by "overtime" they're actually referring to AUO (which is automatic on top of your pay) plus average accrued OT.

CBPO's do not get a built in 25% like LEAP or AUO. They get a form of overtime unique to CBP which is basically double time. The $$ are good but as I understand it, unlike LEAP and AUO, this OT does not count towards your retirement or TSP/ deferred Comp matching.

[HCM]

I'm just going to throw this out there for the OP.

Law Enforcement is first and foremost a "people" job.

It requires patience and forebearance as you are dealing with people in situations which are stressful for them, sometimes the worst day of their lives. At some level you need to give a shit about people - aka empathy. This goes double in a small town where you will be dealing with the same people on a long term basis.

The earlier poster who mentioned hiding your "Tacklberry tendencies" is spot on. This is something you wil need to be able to turn off and on as necessary.

[TGS]

CBPO's do not get a built in 25% like LEAP or AUO. They get a form of overtime unique to CBP which is basically double time. The $$ are good but as I understand it, unlike LEAP and AUO, this OT does not count towards your retirement or TSP/ deferred Comp matching.

Gotcha, thanks for the correction. I thought they have AUO like the two other CBP entities.

[HCM]

Gotcha, thanks for the correction. I thought they have AUO like the two other CBP entities.

Not sure about AMO but USBP no longer receives AUO.

AUO is supposed to be "administratively uncontrollable" - staying late because you made an arrest late in your shift etc. USBP was scheduling Agents for 2 hours a day. If you schedule it, it is not "administratively uncontrollable."

USBP now gets a unique additional pay up to 20% but it is scheduled. The down side is unlike their prior AUO, this new pay does not count towards their retirement or TSP matching.

[HCM]

I'm just going to throw this out there for the OP.

Law Enforcement is first and foremost a "people" job.

It requires patience and forebearance as you are dealing with people in situations which are stressful for them, sometimes the worst day of their lives. At some level you need to give a shit about people - aka empathy. This goes double in a small town where you will be dealing with the same people on a long term basis.

The earlier poster who mentioned hiding your "Tacklberry tendencies" is spot on. This is something you wil need to be able to turn off and on as necessary.

A follow up to this: When I was working sex offenders we talked about maintaining "hate discipline" and "detachment" when dealing with child molestors etc.

In a broader context, I think it fair to say law enforcement requires "Emotional Control."

[HCM]

Gotcha, thanks for the correction. I thought they have AUO like the two other CBP entities.

Neither the legacy US Customs Insoectors nor the legacy US Immigration Inspectors received AUO. when they merged into CBOs they essentially adopted the legacy US Customs Inspectors overtime system.