Possible move to Louisiana for BOP

[ckbell]

Hello, Im 28 years old and currently work as a Detention Officer in Ft. Worth, Texas. I have been there for 2 1/2 years and also have spent 5 years in the Marine Corps Infantry a long with 63 college hours in Criminal Justice. Im hopeing to move up into the federal side of corrections and away from the county side. I was contacted by the BOP for possible employment at the Pollock facilty.
Im hopeing to find out if it would be worth leaving my decent paying job and move to Louisiana. What is the pay like for a newby starting out there in Pollock? I would like to know if the money and job would be worth moving away from my life in Texas for a while in order to get my foot in the door or should I just hold out until i get the call from the Ft.Worth facilty.
I know that that Pollock may not be the best place to work, but it cant really be anymore screwed up than the place im at now.
Im not afraid to move out of my comfort zone of N.Texas but I just want to ensure that I will be able to make a decent living away from here, and Im real crazy about moving to Louisiana.
What is the cost of living like near the Pollock area?
Any kind of assistance would be much appreciative.

[LordVader74]

Hello there. I started out as a GS-5 officer at USP Pollock in February of 2001. I grew up not too far from there. Coming from a local Sheriff's Department, the money was DEFINITELY worth it for me. Right now especially, it's pretty easy to get hired at Pollock from what my buddies there say. It's a very violent place and it's even more violent than when I was there. But if you want to get in with the BOP, it's a heckuva lot easier to get on there than at Ft. Worth. Ft. Worth just doesn't have a lot of turnover from what I hear. If you're not afraid to leave your comfort zone, I recommend doing it. It can really lead to good things for you. Like I said, I started out as GS-5 Officer making $29,150 and now I'm a GS-11 Lt. making...well...considerably more. From what I see on OPM's website, if you start as a GS-5 there (I still don't think they'll hire anyone as a GS-6 regardless of score) you'd start out at $36,658. You'll make more than that with differential pay. The cost of living around there is VERY low too. You'd do well financially there. Bear in mind that there will be a new Cost of Living raise at the first of the year so that $36,658 will go up as well.

[GUNNER]

Originally Posted by ckbell

Hello, Im 28 years old and currently work as a Detention Officer in Ft. Worth, Texas. I have been there for 2 1/2 years and also have spent 5 years in the Marine Corps Infantry a long with 63 college hours in Criminal Justice. Im hopeing to move up into the federal side of corrections and away from the county side. I was contacted by the BOP for possible employment at the Pollock facilty.
Im hopeing to find out if it would be worth leaving my decent paying job and move to Louisiana. What is the pay like for a newby starting out there in Pollock? I would like to know if the money and job would be worth moving away from my life in Texas for a while in order to get my foot in the door or should I just hold out until i get the call from the Ft.Worth facilty.
I know that that Pollock may not be the best place to work, but it cant really be anymore screwed up than the place im at now.
Im not afraid to move out of my comfort zone of N.Texas but I just want to ensure that I will be able to make a decent living away from here, and Im real crazy about moving to Louisiana.
What is the cost of living like near the Pollock area?
Any kind of assistance would be much appreciative.

We need good people in McCreary, so if your thinking you might want to try KY apply there as well.

[shakedownshorti]

Can I come to Kentucky? It is such beautiful country!!!

[GUNNER]

Originally Posted by shakedownshorti

Can I come to Kentucky? It is such beautiful country!!!

Absolutely, if you can stand it here. Once I transfer out of this dump, im never comign back.

[Crosstimbers Okie]

Originally Posted by ckbell

Hello, Im 28 years old and currently work as a Detention Officer in Ft. Worth, Texas. I have been there for 2 1/2 years and also have spent 5 years in the Marine Corps Infantry a long with 63 college hours in Criminal Justice. Im hopeing to move up into the federal side of corrections and away from the county side. I was contacted by the BOP for possible employment at the Pollock facilty.
Im hopeing to find out if it would be worth leaving my decent paying job and move to Louisiana. What is the pay like for a newby starting out there in Pollock? I would like to know if the money and job would be worth moving away from my life in Texas for a while in order to get my foot in the door or should I just hold out until i get the call from the Ft.Worth facilty.
I know that that Pollock may not be the best place to work, but it cant really be anymore screwed up than the place im at now.
Im not afraid to move out of my comfort zone of N.Texas but I just want to ensure that I will be able to make a decent living away from here, and Im real crazy about moving to Louisiana.
What is the cost of living like near the Pollock area?
Any kind of assistance would be much appreciative.

Welcome aboard!!

Don't burn any bridges. You probably won't like the BOP. But you will like the pay. You could grow old and die waiting for Ft. Worth to call you. Once people get there, they tend to stay until they retire.

What's the Tarrant County jail like? I'm retiring in a few years and I always liked Ol' Cowtown... Do you think they'll have openings?

[KBCraig]

Originally Posted by LordVader74

Like I said, I started out as GS-5 Officer making $29,150...

Rookie!

My GS-5 starting pay was $18,919. Two months later we got the first step adjustments that put us into the new LEO pay scale, and six months after we started we got an automatic early advance to GS-6, which put us at $23,500.

For newcomers to federal service, it's worth noting that locality pay is not based on cost of living. It's based on cost of labor in that hiring area. Houston has a relatively low cost of living compared to other major cities, but because wages are high there, the Houston locality pay is very good. Dublin/Pleasanton, being in the SF Bay area, doesn't pay nearly enough to compensate for the high cost of living. Same for Honolulu, LA, San Diego, Chicago and NYC/Brooklyn.

The "RUS" (Rest of the United States) rate would often give you a better net income after living expenses in Texarkana, Yazoo, Marion, Yankton, or many other places in "flyover country", because the cost of living is so much lower. If you're a metropolitan kind of person, you might find it worth the sacrifice to work in an MDC. If you prefer freedom and open spaces, you'll probably want to opt for lower pay at a rural institution.

Kevin

[KBCraig]

Originally Posted by shakedownshorti

Can I come to Kentucky? It is such beautiful country!!!

But it's mostly dry. You'd have to befriend a bootlegger to have some fun.

Shouldn't be a problem for you... I heard you can't hold your licker.

[LordVader74]

Originally Posted by KBCraig

Rookie!

My GS-5 starting pay was $18,919. Two months later we got the first step adjustments that put us into the new LEO pay scale, and six months after we started we got an automatic early advance to GS-6, which put us at $23,500.

All I can say is that I look forward to having that much time in. As it stands now, I only have 3 other Lt.'s beat in our Lt. Corps here in Lompoc. I worked Thanksgiving and I'll work Christmas and New Year as well.

I still think the guy would do well to go to Pollock though. I mean, if you're gonna be a bear...BE A GRIZZLY! Go to one of the roughest around right off. Makes the rest of your tour a breeze!

[Crosstimbers Okie]

Originally Posted by KBCraig

Rookie!

My GS-5 starting pay was $18,919. Two months later we got the first step adjustments that put us into the new LEO pay scale, and six months after we started we got an automatic early advance to GS-6, which put us at $23,500.

For newcomers to federal service, it's worth noting that locality pay is not based on cost of living. It's based on cost of labor in that hiring area. Houston has a relatively low cost of living compared to other major cities, but because wages are high there, the Houston locality pay is very good. Dublin/Pleasanton, being in the SF Bay area, doesn't pay nearly enough to compensate for the high cost of living. Same for Honolulu, LA, San Diego, Chicago and NYC/Brooklyn.

The "RUS" (Rest of the United States) rate would often give you a better net income after living expenses in Texarkana, Yazoo, Marion, Yankton, or many other places in "flyover country", because the cost of living is so much lower. If you're a metropolitan kind of person, you might find it worth the sacrifice to work in an MDC. If you prefer freedom and open spaces, you'll probably want to opt for lower pay at a rural institution.

Kevin

I was SuperGuard. I hired in as a GS-6 at $21,067 per year. Then I made GS-7 six months later. Then, it was more than ten years before I got another promotion...