Think of a police department that treats excellence like a system, not a slogan—where performance, pay, wellness, and readiness all move together. We’re nearly fully staffed, crime is down double digits, and our response times are trending in the right direction. Now we’re aiming higher, inviting top talent to bring their experience without losing their hard-won momentum.
We break down our new Collective Bargaining Agreement and why it changes the recruiting game. Lateral officers can receive up to five years of step credit and start around $95,000, with the option to buy back up to five years of time at zero percent interest. The goal isn’t to poach for numbers; it’s to raise the bar with people who want to build a career where wellness is baked into the culture, not stapled on. If you’re new to the profession, we explain how our training, tools, and leadership support set you up to succeed. If you’re experienced, we show you how your years translate on day one—financially and professionally.
We also spotlight a project that’s been quietly moving from idea to reality: high-water vehicles designed for multi-use operations and storm response. We walk through how our team scoped, vetted, funded, and delivered the capability—so we’re ready when blue skies turn gray. It’s a glimpse into how we turn data, need, and insight into real capacity the community can feel.
If you’ve ever wondered what “be brave, be best, be Cape” looks like in practice, this conversation lays it out—clear incentives, a wellness-first approach, modern tools, and a standard of service that respects both the badge and the person wearing it.
Ready to explore a move or start your career? Apply before November 14th and grab the $10,000 hiring bonus!
TO APPLY: www.capecops.com/careers
Episode Transcript
Welcome back to another episode of the Cape
Copcast Chiefs Chat edition.
I'm one of your hosts, LisaGreenberg.
SPEAKER_00 (00:10):
And I'm Officer Mercedes Simons.
Together we make up your publicaffairs office.
Once again, we have ChiefSizemore with us.
Good morning.
SPEAKER_01 (00:17):
Good morning.
SPEAKER_00 (00:18):
How are you doing?
SPEAKER_01 (00:18):
Good.
How are you?
SPEAKER_02 (00:19):
Good.
Good.
It's been a while since withthree of us have all been
together for a podcast.
So I'm looking forward to ittoday.
SPEAKER_01 (00:24):
The team is back.
SPEAKER_02 (00:25):
The team is back.
I know we want to talk heavilyabout recruitment because we've
got some new stuff coming up andwe are changing things up a
little bit.
There's some new financialincentives as well.
SPEAKER_00 (00:36):
Yeah, financial incentives.
And now, like we'll talk aboutit a little bit more, but we're
getting to the point where we'repretty close to staffed.
So now we're looking for the toptalent, and we have a couple
things that were put into ourlast contract that's really
allowing us to do that.
SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
100%.
Two big things.
We are almost full.
Now, when you look at statisticsfor you know what percentage of
vacancy rate do you have, we arevirtually full.
We are under 5% vacancy rate,which means you are almost full.
And when you have anorganization that's almost 500
people to be 4% vacancy rate,you were almost full.
(01:15):
The fullest that we've ever beenin my career outside of the 2008
economic shutdown, because wegot full because we cut a bunch
of positions we hadn't hiredyet.
So it was an artificialfullness.
But then we got the machine backrunning again and growing, and
here we are so many years later.
(01:35):
We were really stepping on thegas to get people in the door.
And our team and ourprofessional standards bureau,
which is like the HR departmentfor us, really rock and rolled
and got us almost full.
And then that's in conjunctionwith what you guys were talking
about, which is our new CBA orcollective bargaining agreement
for our rank and file.
(01:55):
And we got a really nice featurethat we've never had in there
before.
I think that's where you guysare going.
SPEAKER_02 (02:01):
Yes, yes.
It's exciting.
SPEAKER_00 (02:03):
Definitely.
So part of the initiative ishaving uh laterals able to join
us.
They've always been able to joinus.
That's nothing new, but with theadded addition of they can have
up to five years in within ourSTEP program.
So I think it's they can startwith up to$95,000, which is a
lot, um, especially compared tosome of the not just surrounding
(02:25):
agencies, but nationally, that'sa that's a lot of a up to
starting rate.
And you can buy up to five yearsof your time back in addition to
that.
And and and and they have there,I mean, it's it's an awesome
contract.
There's a lot of great things,but you can also buy back up to
five years of time with a zeropercent interest rate.
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
It's a lot of inside baseball.
SPEAKER_00 (02:45):
Yeah, right.
I was gonna say for people likeme.
Sorry.
SPEAKER_01 (02:48):
What does that mean for for Lisa and and everybody
else out there?
The the deal that we have has alot of ands.
SPEAKER_02 (02:56):
But wait, there's more.
SPEAKER_01 (02:58):
Not a lot of or or but.
Which is great.
The more ands you have, thebetter the deal.
So what does that mean?
It means we say that we want tobe the best police department in
the state of Florida, the bestin everything, the best in in
equipment, the best inperformance, the best in
research, the best at anythingyou do.
And it's not a competitionagainst anybody else.
(03:20):
It's not like us versus Tampa orus versus Virginia Beach.
It's us versus us.
We want to be the best versionof us, right?
I want all those other places towin.
I want them to be the bestversion of themselves.
So when we talk about being thebest, it's not stepping on
somebody else to get there.
It's being our best.
(03:41):
Well, if you want to be thebest, then part of that is the
performance is there.
We talked about it on an earlierpodcast, 28% reduction in crime,
all of the scientificallydata-driven initiatives that
we've done with redistricting,trying to improve our response
time, which we'll talk aboutthat maybe on another one.
But we have made significant,impactful, positive strides on
(04:05):
our response time.
So all of those are marchingtowards the best.
And our staff is greatattitudes, want to be here.
I mean, everything is thereexcept that last piece was our
old three-year labor contract orCBA.
We were not quite the best.
And this puts us there.
It matches the attitude spirit,direction of the agency.
(04:28):
We are, I would say, probably,if not the best, right up there
with the best compensation, notjust in the region, but in the
state, like you said, and andnationally, we're a draw.
We're an attraction.
We're the eighth biggest cityand the third biggest state in
the country, and our pay isrequisite for that.
We are competitive in themarket.
So what does that mean?
(04:48):
Be brave, be best, be cape.
You want to be a cop, be brave.
Make the decision.
You made the decision to be acop, well, be best.
Go to the best.
That's what we're trying to do.
Well, if you're gonna be braveand do it, you want to be the
best and go, then there's onlyone choice it's be cape.
Be brave, be best, be cape.
I was looking to see if it wason here, but we have it
(05:09):
everywhere.
SPEAKER_02 (05:10):
Literally everywhere else.
SPEAKER_01 (05:11):
If you have never been a police officer before and
you want to enter theprofession, we have a
compensation package that reallywill make that a good decision
financially for you.
If you are local, regional,statewide, or even national, and
you want to transfer, you wantto come to Florida, or you're in
(05:32):
Florida and you want to come bebrave, be best, be cape, but
man, it's really tough.
I've been a cop at X departmentfor four years.
It's hard.
I can't go start over at thebottom.
This new contract, if you gotfour years at Department X, you
come over to us, you start at afour-year officer with us.
So it eases that transition.
(05:54):
It's a win-win.
Win for the employee becausethey're coming in and not losing
all that gr ground that theyhave gained in their career
financially.
It's a big win for us because weget somebody who is a four-year
experienced professional policeofficer who's not leaving
because they're in trouble orrunning from something.
(06:15):
They're incentivized to want tocome here.
And all of these rising tidelifts all boats.
We're gonna get a lot of goodboats coming in here.
It's a great, great deal.
SPEAKER_00 (06:26):
Yeah, it's a huge win.
And that's the goal, right?
Is to get top talent anywhereyou work.
And used to in law enforcement,we we used to have to constantly
grab, you know, people weretrying to get into the agencies.
Now law enforcement has taken ashift, and a lot of departments
really have to recruit.
So now we're at the point wherewe have the best contract to
recruit with top talent.
SPEAKER_01 (06:47):
There's something that the public doesn't really
understand is thatintergovernmental recruiting is
brutal.
SPEAKER_00 (06:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (06:55):
Right?
If you want to get into thepublic sector, it's a certain
niche of people, and then youhave all these different public
sectors that are looking for abucket of talent, it's very
competitive.
So anything that you can do toincentivize people who want to
do this job to come do it foryou, the more you get, the more
selective you can be.
And then we can take, like yousaid, the top talent.
(07:18):
Because an organization is justan inanimate object.
An organization is really madeup of a lot of individual
people.
Well, if you get the bestindividual people and give them
the tools, give them thetraining, give them the freedom
and support to go do their job,that organization gets plugged
into the wall and really lifts.
And this is a major, major steptowards that.
(07:39):
So, what what's the end resultto that?
We're looking, still looking.
We're not completely full.
We have new positions comingbecause the city city is still
growing.
October was the new budget year.
We have additional FTEs orfull-time employees that we need
to bring on board.
We're still looking for cops.
So apply, capecops.com.
If you've never been a policeofficer, we'd love to have you
(08:02):
and teach you, train you, andget you ready.
If you are a police officer or asheriff's deputy, locally,
regionally, nationally, and youwant to relocate to Florida or
you want to come work for us,give us a look.
And that lateral pay is up tofive years.
So if you did one year, you comein, you know, where you would
be.
If you did three years, you comein at three, four at four, five
(08:24):
at five.
It caps at five.
So if you've been a cop foreight years and you want to come
to us, you're not going to go inat step eight, but you'll go in
at step five.
And I'd be willing to bet thatour step five is equal to, if
not better, than your step eightwhere you're at right now.
SPEAKER_00 (08:39):
By far.
I think it's really competitive.
To add on to the ants, the cityhas allowed us to offer a$10,000
hiring bonus for new officersjust within the city.
If you come over to CAPE, youget the$10,000 hiring bonus.
We have that till the end of theyear.
So with the new posting that wehave, we are allowed to offer
that up to the when the newposting closes, which is
(09:00):
November 14th.
So as long as you apply beforeNovember 14th, you're still
eligible for the$10,000 hiringbonus.
So really, there's never been abetter time than right now to
come over and apply.
Even if you're not sure, maybejust throw in an application,
see where it goes.
And we'd we'd love to have allof the top talent in the area.
SPEAKER_02 (09:20):
Plus, DeSantis's bonus is still in place for
officers relocating to Florida.
So there's a lot on the table.
SPEAKER_01 (09:26):
A lot of incentives.
These prices won't last.
Act.
SPEAKER_00 (09:30):
I know.
I feel like we're on like a usedcar commercial or something like
that, and we're sellingourselves.
But really, we are sellingourselves.
And as someone who came from adifferent department and I came
here, for me at least, the grasswas definitely greener on the
other side.
And I mean, if you want to comeover, do a ride along or
something like that, just seewhat the agency's about.
(09:51):
There's never been a better timeto do it.
Absolutely.
Capecops.com.
SPEAKER_01 (09:54):
That's it.
And life's not all about money.
Life's about wellness.
Life's about making a choice todo something positive with your
life and impactful with yourcareer.
We still have that.
Our wellness program is superrobust and getting better every
day.
It's not a program or go seethis person.
Wellness is infused into the DNAof the department.
(10:18):
So we want you to feel greatwhen you walk in the door.
You made the right choicethroughout your entire career.
And when you walk out the door,you are a whole happy person,
not a smoldering wreckage thatdid 25 years in a trauma-filled
career.
This is a great investment inyourself to do this career.
SPEAKER_02 (10:39):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (10:40):
The final bow on that is I am nearing the finish
line in my career, almost 30years.
If I had to start all overagain, I would do it in a
second, and I would do it here.
SPEAKER_02 (10:55):
That's says a lot.
unknown (10:56):
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (10:57):
That's awesome.
That's good to know.
And I think it's good to put outthere.
This is the place to be.
Be brave, be best, be cape.
SPEAKER_01 (11:04):
A lot of bees, the place to be.
The place to be.
I like it.
SPEAKER_02 (11:07):
Anything else you want to chat about, Chief?
SPEAKER_01 (11:09):
Just one little follow-up.
So we had talked about some ofthe projects and initiatives
that we've been doing or andthat we're looking to do.
And I want to talk just realquickly, I'll do it super fast,
the evolution of a project.
I was walking in this morningand we got started a few minutes
behind because our first highwater vehicle is on the lot out
(11:30):
back.
And we had talked about that onthe podcast that there was a
need for it, right?
Storm resiliency, rising waters.
I'm not getting into why that'shappening.
It's just happening, right?
So we got to be prepared.
And I had the idea, and my therest of my staff had the idea
that not a not really going outon a limb that we need high
water vehicles when you see someof the storms that we've had.
(11:51):
But what the idea was is I don'twant to have to borrow tools to
do the job.
I mentioned it already earliertoday.
The eighth largest city in thethird biggest state, be brave,
be best.
You want to be the best, youdon't borrow other people's
tools.
And in a high water situation,you're talking about a hurricane
or a tropical storm.
It's a regional impact.
(12:13):
So I can't borrow a tool fromsomebody who's experiencing the
same impact, right?
I can't call up my buddy Carmineand go, hey buddy, can you send
me your high water vehicles?
I can't do it, dude.
I got every All Miner out on thebeach or all miner in Benita or
in Estero or North Fort Myers.
I can't, I need the tools.
Well, we need our own tools.
(12:34):
So that was the idea.
And then our staff went to work.
I got out of the way and letthem conceptually design what
they wanted.
They vetted all the stuff.
And then you get down to theoperators who are going to be
driving it and using it.
It's multi-use.
So we have applications for iton blue skies.
And then we definitely haveapplications for it in gray
skies or when we have toactivate for a storm.
(12:56):
And it didn't take very long toget those done.
And I saw the first one and arerolling off the line.
So we are ready.
Mother Nature helped us out thisyear and gave us September off.
So now it is October and we'vegot everything we need.
I hope we never need it.
I hope it's just a cool vehiclefor show and tell.
But if we ever do need those, wehave them.
And that's how a project worksfrom idea to that you can't
(13:20):
grab, it's just an idea.
And then you put it in theconcept and you can start to
touch it, and then you get tooperators actually doing it, and
you get a physical product.
That's one example of how aproject happens here, from idea
to data research toscientifically getting what you
need to finding appropriateethical funding and having it
delivered.
(13:41):
It is October.
Our new budget is in.
That process of idea research,implementation, and get happen.
It's like the guy holding thesticks with the plates spinning.
SPEAKER_02 (13:53):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (13:54):
We have a lot of plates spinning at the beginning
of the year to get thoseprojects going.
We just don't go to the storeand buy all the stuff.
There's a lot that goes into it.
And that's one example.
So we talked about it in here.
It's in place and we are readyto rock.
And we've got a lot of otherprojects just like that.
SPEAKER_02 (14:10):
Yeah, we're gonna have a lot more information
about those vehicles soon onlike our social media platforms.
We'll take some pictures so wecan show them off once they
finish up a couple last detailsof it.
But yeah, it's exciting.
It's exciting when you seesomething you've been working on
come into fruition like that.
Yep.
For sure.
SPEAKER_00 (14:27):
Yep, we're storm ready.
SPEAKER_02 (14:28):
Storm ready.
Storm ready.
We're ready to rock and roll.
SPEAKER_00 (14:31):
But let's not jinx it and let's just not have any
hurricanes for the rest of thisyear.
Maybe next year.
Let's throw in next year, too.
SPEAKER_01 (14:38):
If we're let's throw in a good decade.
SPEAKER_00 (14:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (14:40):
We used to be on that time time frame.
SPEAKER_00 (14:42):
We deserve a break.
Yeah.
We deserve a good break.
So anything else, folks?
SPEAKER_01 (14:47):
Speaking of that, break.
Have a great weekend.
Yes.
Happy Friday.
SPEAKER_02 (14:51):
Happy Friday.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
We'll see you next time.
Stay safe.
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