CLPEX Chat Board

The Austin Police Department has a vacancy for Latent Print Examiner.


Here is the site.
https://www.austincityjobs.org/applican ... 8891789579

The position closes on 04-25-2008.

The salary is negotiable.

If the applicant is IAI Certified or acquired IAI Certification there is a senior LPE with a higher salary.

Someone asked for the range----here is the range.

Here is the range. Start Mid Top

Latent Print Examiner Start 17.44 Mid 22.24 Top 28.39

Sr. Latent Print Exam Start 18.32 Mid 23.35 Top 29.81

I do not know of anyone who has successfully negotiated the top range for either position. They want something you can grow into I suppose. But the Max is 29.81 an hour right now Or $62,004.80 a year. To get the Sr. you have to come on board and take a test. I do not think you can start out as Sr. LPE.

Depending upon background and experience you might be able to come in at just above mid-range. But I am not a supervisor or sitting on the interview board so I could not say exactly. But if offered you could negotiate.

I know it is not much, but Austin is not Iraq. You want money go to Iraq. You already pulling retirement and want to make a few extra bucks in a low key job with no stress and good co-workers. Try Austin.

Charles Parker wrote:
I know it is not much, but Austin is not Iraq. You want money go to Iraq. You already pulling retirement and want to make a few extra bucks in a low key job with no stress and good co-workers. Try Austin.

Yeah, but how is the hunting there?

Depends Ann on what you are hunting:

Bear----Nada
Moose--Nope
Elk------Nicht

People---Plenty and no bag limit.

Deer-----In some places like flies on the windshield (more costly though).

Mule Deer---Further south than here but yep.

Quail, Dove, Turkey---Pick the season.

I've read & heard there are rattlesnakes everywhere down there. I'd hate to be walking to my car and have to pry some fangs out of my foot or leg.

There is some redeeming value to colder weather and some snow.

However, I would bet working with Charles would be the experience of a lifetime!

How is the cost of living in the Austin area?

Bill

Bill wrote: How is the cost of living in the Austin area?

Bill

This is from the CNN calculator, which doesn't list Manassas:

Salary in Austin TX: $60,000
Comparable salary in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA: $88,046.53

Bill wrote:I've read & heard there are rattlesnakes everywhere down there. I'd hate to be walking to my car and have to pry some fangs out of my foot or leg.

They're not exactly everywhere. It happens to be the rattlesnake season, now, when they're on the move. We were on the back porch (which is out in the country) the other night and heard a "thump." Seems one of them had been up in the big oak tree and fell out, slid down the roof, and landed on the steps. He was some kind of pissed off about the long drop and finding himself surrounded by cats.

But inside the City of Austin, you usually only have to worry about them every two years when the legislature's in town.

Good luck getting $60,000 a year here in Austin!

I've read & heard there are rattlesnakes everywhere down there. I'd hate to be walking to my car and have to pry some fangs out of my foot or leg.

For rattlesnakes in the Austin area they had a removal policy a few years back. They caught them all then deported them to Oklahoma. Real close to OU. (I do not think this would offend anyone since I do not think anyone from Oklahoma looks at this site!)

We do have some Copperheads around. One nailed me on the little finger a couple of years ago while I was tending the flower garden. Talk about getting the old heart-rate up (Come to think of it maybe it was the stomping on that snake that got the heart rate up). We also have some black chicken snakes that keep eating the eggs from my chickens. I don't kill them though. I catch them and take them down the road aways to this big chicken ranch and let them out. I figure they can find plenty of food there.

However, I would bet working with Charles would be the experience of a lifetime!

Well Bill you did not say it would be a bad experience or a good experience so you got me wondering now. I suppose you would have to ask the other people here about me. They would probably say something like "When is that old codger going to kick off".

How is the cost of living in the Austin area?

Well Sharon is right. No one in this office is making 60 g's a year. But I have lived in Silver Spring MD for 3 years and then Dale City VA for 4 and I must say that is pretty country, but the trees! Having been raised on the Edwards Plateau where one can see for miles, the trees there felt very confining. My daughter lives in Arlington VA and they have a older home two story with 3 BR and it is nice. I live in the country on 5.5 acres in a brick home, 3BR, with a pool, and a pond and raised horses until last year. I can tell you my place was about $90,000 less than her place. The best thing is the traffic. Takes me 35 minutes to get to work and I live 24 miles from work. I go through 4 lights and I am here.

The living is nice, the pay could be better, but hey if I was not here I would be somewhere else complaining.

Austin a good place to retire to. Economy is still pretty strong here--so far.

Well the LPE position closes today and as of wednesday they said they had 65 applications. They will weed them down to about 10-15 and start the interviews. Anyone wanting to make it in that 10-15 group just send a check, cash or money order to old chuckie boy here. I found a great deal on some used Polocks and need the cash.

Have a nice weekend.

Manassas is in the DC area, though outside the beltway and more toward reality.

One can eventually achieve $88K in fingerprints in this area IF you work for the feds. The feds pay up to GS-13 ($82,000+-$107,000+) for bench level work, and more if you have a leadership type position. Top pay for locals is in the $70K-$80K range--I think. I haven't don a salary study lately.

The local jurisdictions stick their heads in the sand and claim they cannot compete with the federal government. Shame on them!

But, in looking for jobs--anywhere--one must consider quality of life issues. One would likely be less stressed out in Texas than DC. Cost of housing is an issue, though lately, everything is in the sewer. But, in DC, everytime there is a change of administration, housing tends to shift upward--for a while.

The quality of school systems is an issue for younger families, and whether or not your retirement is taxed, along with access to good healthcare may be issues for those who are in the fall & winter of their careers.

The DC area is not exactly the place most people have in mind for their retirement years.

Texas, on the other hand, I understand is agood alternative to Florida's humidity and huricanes. I hope I did not make any of my Florida colleagues sore. But, I hope you understand.

My questions are: When are juridictions going to start paying competitive wages for their forensic latent print examiners? And, when are examiners going to start demanding more competive compensation? (Including, training funds).

We are more educated than anytime in history and we certainly have more challenges than anytime in history. Seems fair we should be paid well for it.

Bill, there are 3 things I usually stay away from and that is Politics, Religion and the third one is best left unsaid period. But if I may just say a couple of things that are based upon my observations and not politics.

I do not know about the State of VA or MD but in TX our constitution will not allow the government to spend more than they are taking in. In TX if the government wants to spend more they will have to raise taxes or cut services. Not popular with any part of the voting population. Now the Federal Government can spend more than they make. How far are they in the deficit right now. If I could spend more than I make, then I could be living high on the hog. But someone is going to pay for it at sometime. Me or my daughter or some other taxpayer.

That is one reason why the locals, and states will never be able to pay the salary of the Feds. The Feds can charge it and the states and locals cannot.

If the Federal Government was under the same mandate as most states in that you can only spend what you bring in, I believe those Examiners working for the Feds would not be getting the salary they are now.

Having worked for the Feds (not very far up the food chain I might add) and for a short time for the State, I can say I like working for the locals. For me I am closer to those 1st responders and have more input and faster turn around time to see some positive results. Get to work with solving crime but looking at trends and going after that rise in that sector or this sector. We have a rise in Burglaries, then concentrate resources in the field and lab to combat that rise. That is something the states and feds can never do. Nor do I see them wanting to do it. By the time the states or Feds get it and back to you, it is months down the road. I think a lot more local agencies are seeing that and the only way to impact crime in their community is to do the work themselvles.

I like the local government because I feel that I am helping the citizens of this community. Does it pay as much as the States or Feds---No, but even the highest paid of them still want more. Have you ever seen someone in government return money because they thought they were overpaid.

Enough of my rant.

Sorry to have picked on Oklahoma early, I really meant Arkansas. Up there with Rubie Ross.

And Charles, unless I missed it, you didn't mention you work in a very nice new forensic complex. Rather like CSI, but unlike them, APD seems to be able to afford to turn the lights on.

Thanks to all who relied. I enjoyed stirring the pot on this as it isn't as heavy as some of the topics. Charles, I met you in San Diego for the first time (at least that I can recall). I saw Michele and she saw you and introduced you to me. I enjoy it when you stir the pot as well.

I understand the point you make about the feds running a deficit. It is true. And, I zlso agree with the local agency relationship with the community and the people we serve. However, the desparity really affects those of us more in this region than farther away--like Texas. This is due to the competion for well-qualified people. Nearly every agency in this area has lost people to the feds and the cost of living is the same for me and my coworkers as it is for the GS-12,13,14, and in some cases, GS-15, at any of the federal labs. (Complain! I would cry all the way to the bank!) A county or city that has a lab anywhere but here doesn't face this regular competition for talented examiners.

I also don't see why the taxpayers are unwilling to pay more to attract the best forensic examiners. I don't understand the mentality that public servants should be paid less in the public sector than jobs that require equal education in the private sector, like science degrees, for example. The public has a right to good forensic services.

I wasn't aware that Austin was humid. I figured Houston was. When I was at the IAI in Dallas a few years ago I thought their hot weather was more tolerable than ours. We have humidity big time, as you know well, Charles. Give me a call the next time you are here. We have corresponded directly previously & I get your fingerprint interest emails.
We are supposed to be moving into a new "facility" in July. They don't like to call it a "lab." We are not a full service agency. But there is potential for possible expansion to other disciplines.

If I were to move again, my daughters would disown me and Iwould have to drag the family kicking & screaming. My wife's family is mostly in this area.

Thanks & have a great weekend!

Bill

I love TEXAS; great people, great food and awesome motor riding.. If I could talk my wife into it I'd be on my way!