4 ms·

"I say ramp up their salaries significantly"-how are you going to pay for this? Do you think cops are grossly underpaid now?

chillacy 11y ago
It already seems pretty decent, a police sergeant can make over 100k (though officers start at 57k in LAPD as of today) http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/LAPD-Salaries-E135741.htm http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/LAPD-Salaries-E135741.htm
- jMyles 11y ago
  It's not clear to me whether these figures include overtime, which often makes up a substantial part of the compensation for a police officer. I surmise that GP's comment is partly read to mean that overtime (ie, working 60+ hours a week sometimes!) is part of the way we don't treat police officers very well. It seems pretty clear to me that a police officer working a 24 hour shift is a liability.
  - danso 11y ago
    Uh...I don't think there are too many instances of cops working 24-hour shifts. Firefighters have 72-hour shifts but that includes bunking at the department. If you go to publicpay.ca.gov, you'll find the state wide databases of city and state employees. Police officers make up nearly all of the top non-executive positions. Second, police officers want overtime. If you've watched The Wire, there are more than a few scenes/threads in which eliminating overtime is seen as punishment to officers. This is also chronicled in David Simon's non-fiction book, "Homicide", which The Wire is heavily based off of. This is not to say that we shouldn't staff departments in a way that overtime isn't excessive. But I doubt you'll find much political support from the officers or their leaders on that. In fact, the use of overtimes is one of the best way for police officers to ensure a huge pension...Pensions are often calculated on based on the last year of a retiring officer's salary. So an officer who makes $64K base salary in his career can retire with $82K in annual retirement, by working $120,000 worth of overtime in his final year: http://www.nola.com/crime/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2015/05/how_a_police_officer_can_make.html http://www.nola.com/crime/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2015/05/how_...
    - jMyles 11y ago
      > I don't think there are too many instances of cops working 24-hour shifts. I think think of three departments off the top of my head, all in upstate NY, that have 24-hour shifts. > Second, police officers want overtime. Well, but that's only because of the financial incentive structure. It doesn't need to be this way.
      - danso 11y ago
        > I think think of three departments off the top of my head, all in upstate NY, that have 24-hour shifts. Just curious, but who? > Well, but that's only because of the financial incentive structure. It doesn't need to be this way. Yes, but it's unlikely that you will be able to change the incentive mindset and system for the entire government (this affects teachers and firefighters, too), at least in a meaningful time frame compared to all the other things you could change about police practices.

chillacy 11y ago

It already seems pretty decent, a police sergeant can make over 100k (though officers start at 57k in LAPD as of today) http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/LAPD-Salaries-E135741.htm http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/LAPD-Salaries-E135741.htm

jMyles 11y ago
It's not clear to me whether these figures include overtime, which often makes up a substantial part of the compensation for a police officer. I surmise that GP's comment is partly read to mean that overtime (ie, working 60+ hours a week sometimes!) is part of the way we don't treat police officers very well. It seems pretty clear to me that a police officer working a 24 hour shift is a liability.
- danso 11y ago
  Uh...I don't think there are too many instances of cops working 24-hour shifts. Firefighters have 72-hour shifts but that includes bunking at the department. If you go to publicpay.ca.gov, you'll find the state wide databases of city and state employees. Police officers make up nearly all of the top non-executive positions. Second, police officers want overtime. If you've watched The Wire, there are more than a few scenes/threads in which eliminating overtime is seen as punishment to officers. This is also chronicled in David Simon's non-fiction book, "Homicide", which The Wire is heavily based off of. This is not to say that we shouldn't staff departments in a way that overtime isn't excessive. But I doubt you'll find much political support from the officers or their leaders on that. In fact, the use of overtimes is one of the best way for police officers to ensure a huge pension...Pensions are often calculated on based on the last year of a retiring officer's salary. So an officer who makes $64K base salary in his career can retire with $82K in annual retirement, by working $120,000 worth of overtime in his final year: http://www.nola.com/crime/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2015/05/how_a_police_officer_can_make.html http://www.nola.com/crime/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2015/05/how_...
  - jMyles 11y ago
    > I don't think there are too many instances of cops working 24-hour shifts. I think think of three departments off the top of my head, all in upstate NY, that have 24-hour shifts. > Second, police officers want overtime. Well, but that's only because of the financial incentive structure. It doesn't need to be this way.
    - danso 11y ago
      > I think think of three departments off the top of my head, all in upstate NY, that have 24-hour shifts. Just curious, but who? > Well, but that's only because of the financial incentive structure. It doesn't need to be this way. Yes, but it's unlikely that you will be able to change the incentive mindset and system for the entire government (this affects teachers and firefighters, too), at least in a meaningful time frame compared to all the other things you could change about police practices.