Career Exploration

The career that I want to pursue is as a Law Enforcement Officer with the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission. The officers of FWC are sworn officers of the law and their main job is to protect and preserve the Florida outdoors.

FWC officers are an effective model of modern law enforcement multi-tasking – providing law enforcement that:

• Protects Florida’s fish, wildlife and habitats to ensure their long-term well-being and continued viability for educational, recreational and commercial activities.
• Safeguards public safety and enriches the outdoor experience of residents and visitors.
• Conducts search-and-rescue missions to protect the public statewide – saving approximately 1,000 people each year.
• Specialized training, capabilities and equipment enable officers to respond to emergencies, natural disasters and other critical incidents through coordinated efforts with local, state and federal mutual-aid partners.　
• Enforces laws to protect the resources of Florida and the safety of people using these resources when hunting, boating, freshwater and saltwater fishing, visiting state parks, viewing wildlife, fishing commercially or processing seafood.
• Provides for public safety and law enforcement services in Florida’s 164 state parks and nine state trails.
• Enforces boating and waterways laws and promotes educational activities to enhance boating safety for residents and visitors – an economic value of more than $16.8 billion.
• Conducts environmental crimes investigations and protects the public and environment from illegal environmental violations.
• Enhances boating safety and waterway experiences through maintenance and repair of 240 boat ramps, construction of new boat ramps and placement and maintenance of waterway markers.
• Protects the public in rural, semi-wilderness, wilderness and offshore areas where no other law enforcement agencies routinely patrol.
• Provides for public safety and the well-being of animals at captive wildlife facilities throughout the state.　
• Investigates and monitors the illegal shipping of protected and regulated wildlife into Florida.
• Supports domestic and homeland security initiatives in Florida’s ports.
• Encourages the next generation of conservationists and enhances outdoor experiences through education, public outreach partnerships and youth-oriented programs

In order to be considered for a sworn position with the Division of Law Enforcement, you must:

• Be at least 18 years old and 19 years old at date of hire
• Be a citizen of the United States
• Have a high school diploma or GED
• Have a valid Florida driver's license with no more than four moving traffic violations within the past three years
• Have not been convicted of any felony; or any misdemeanor involving perjury or a false statement or domestic violence
• Have not been convicted of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Boating Under the Influence (BUI) within the past five years
• Have not received a traffic or boating violation involving the refusal to submit to a breath/blood/urine test within five years
• Have not been dishonorably discharged from any of the Armed Forces of the United States
• Have good moral character

Vision Requirements

Applicants must pass a thorough visual evaluation and meet the following requirements:

• Unaided vision not less than 20/100 in each eye and corrected to 20/20
• Field of vision must be at least 130 degrees
• Must have the ability to distinguish primary colors and have binocular vision
• Must not have double vision, lack of depth perception or other chronic eye disorders that affect normal vision

Medical Requirements

• Must pass a thorough medical examination by a licensed physician
• Must pass a psychological evaluation by a psychologist designated by the Division of Law Enforcement

Physical Fitness Requirements

• Must pass a  physical fitness test  which assesses explosive power, dynamic strength, muscular endurance and aerobic capacity
• Must be able to swim 150 yards continuously (untimed)

Applicants must meet these requirements to be eligible to become an officer.

Education: A high school diploma or GED is required and a college degree is not but you can receive more pay if you have one.

The day starts out by receiving a dispatch from a dispatch center in your region, followed by a patrol of your region that can stretch from land patrol, license checking, marine/boat patrol, and a number of other things. Training is also a priority so some days you may not even patrol but instead be assigned training. Specialty occupations may be on-call type scenarios in case of a search n rescue operation, another unit in need of a K9, or body and wreck recovery depending on the specialty you choose if you choose too. Hours vary depending on department needs weekends can become work days and can be very flexible.

In this field most applicants start out as basic officers but can rise to the ranks of corporal, and sergeant. Those ranks are senior ranks in the field meaning as those ranks the majority of time is still out patrolling. After those ranks comes lieutenant which mainly consists of office and paperwork and very little field work.

The outdoors is very important to me and how I live. I grew up in nature hunting, fishing, off-roading and just hanging out outside. The outdoors is something that I have always cared about and this career option gives me a way to protect what I love.