Fort Myers PD looking to expand by hiring more officers, dispatchers

The Fort Myers Police Department is looking to expand with more units by recruiting additional officers and dispatchers to the force. The department is also offering financial incentives for applicants.

FMPD is looking to hire 20-25 new officers.

The qualifications to join their team are the basics; You need a high school diploma or GED, you must be at least 21 years old, or 18 if you want to be a dispatcher, and pass a physical fitness assessment and a background check.

Fort Myers police are offering an incentive of $3,000 to in-state applicants and $5,000 for out-of-state applicants.

Kristin Capuzzi, with the Fort Myer Police Department, said, “we have different specialty units. We have many different areas of the police department that you can, you know, make your way towards if you want to specialize in a certain area, whether it be detectives, you know, patrol officers canine we have, you know, very, you know, competitive with all of the local agencies around us.”

The qualification for those who want to be dispatchers is similar to officers who would be out in the community, except dispatchers don’t have a physical assessment, and you can join at 18.

You don’t need to be certified to join the Fort Myers Police Department. They will then pay for certified and uncertified officers to go through the academy, preparing them will all the necessary skills.

Capuzzi said, “the academy lasts approximately five to five and a half months. And you do have some physical aspects of it, a lot of bookwork. And for us, we also again, have the physical ability test, we have, you know, different requirements, whether it be, you know, firearms training, many different trainings that we go through, but the basic academy, which we pay for the person to go through at first, you know, it’s got a lot of different aspects to it.”

A non-certified officer will make $19.72 an hour, and once certified, the number goes up to $22.94 an hour. For dispatchers, pay starts at $16.93 an hour, and once trained, will increase to $17.71.

If you would like to apply to the Fort Myers Police Department you can do so by visiting their website or clicking here.