The Escambia County Jail is currently accepting applications for Corrections Officer Trainees. No certification is necessary, but applicants must be willing to complete Corrections Basic Recruit School, which will be provided at no cost as outlined in the employment contract. During training, the position pays $13.75 per hour with an increase to $15.12 after successful completion of the training program and state certification.
The next course is tentatively slated to begin in February. Classroom hours take place at George Stone Technical Center and will vary depending on the course, which may include nights and weekends. On-the-job training will be 12 hour rotating shifts to include days, nights, weekends and holidays at the county jail located at 2935 N. “L†St.
In addition to a stable position in the corrections industry, a job with Escambia County Corrections offers a comprehensive benefit plan for employees who work 30 or more hours a week. Benefits include health, dental, life, vision, employee assistance program, flexible spending accounts for medical and childcare, long-term disability, legal services, vacations, deferred compensation, retirement and other voluntary insurance products.
Applicants should have a high school diploma or a GED, possess a valid driver’s license and be at least 20 years of age. Pre-employment screenings are required such as a drug test, Criminal Justice Basic Abilities Test, computer voice stress analysis, background check and basic physical.
Apply by Thursday, Dec. 28 online at myescambia.com/jobs or click here.
For more information about the training program, please contact Lt. Shawn Hankins at 850-436-9136 or sphankins@myescambia.com.
Are Escambia County Corrections Officers paid the same as their Florida Department of Corrections’ counterparts. If not, perhaps they should be paid the same to increase recruiting and retention. In fact, it would seem desirable for all local government public safety positions to ensure that the pay is at least the same as their state counterparts. You have to gasp whenever you hear that so many Deputy Sheriff’s and Police Officers leave for other jobs. The public is never told where which agencies they leave to work for, and that would be a good story for the PNJ to report, but you have to assume that many leave for agencies with more competitive salaries. Unfortunately, when a public safety officer leaves Escambia County loses all of that experience and the investment in training is lost. I used to tell my Marines that the best Marines are the ones we already have and used to go out of my way to try to find the right job to fit each person to better ensure they remained on active duty. When the County Commission has a budget discussion in 2018, and hopefully they will not wait until the summer by which time it is too late, perhaps they should give high priority to increasing all public safety officer salaries to help recruiting and increase retention. You have to assume that such a move would be relatively budget neutral because increased salaries is likely to result in decreased training costs. Rather than leave the details to “staff,” perhaps Chairman Bergosh should dig into the details about recruiting and retention and then have the board give very specific guidance to Administrator Brown to put public safety first.