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"Perhaps it's resentment of the widening income gap between 20-30 somethings in the tech industry and those in the service industry?" Maybe. Because of the bil

"Perhaps it's resentment of the widening income gap between 20-30 somethings in the tech industry and those in the service industry?" Maybe. Because of the billionaire big winner image, people outside the industry see techies as very well off. In fact, cops make a lot more on average -- benefits included -- than techies or programmers or engineers. In big American cities, cops are paid similar total compensation to doctors. The usual breakdown is 125k or so salary plus gold plated health care, various fancy bonuses and discounts and a pension plan that's worth more actuarially than all of the salary. Totals above $400k are not uncommon. NYPD, as mentioned in op, is considered much more stingy than suburban NY departments so the cops in question may not be making quite that much.

throwaway344 13y ago
Yeah, with my experiences with police officers who I know personally they seem to earn nothing like that. Could you provide a source on those figures? I would be interested to learn about it.
learc83 13y ago
Those numbers don't sound right at all. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the median is 55k. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes333051.htm http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes333051.htm Since you said NY is stingy, I tried other big cities. Here's a list of Chicago PD salaries. https://data.cityofchicago.org/Administration-Finance/Police-Salary/ap92-235q https://data.cityofchicago.org/Administration-Finance/Police... The only people on that list with a salary of 125k are ranked captain and above. Here's the LAPD salary schedule. http://per.lacity.org/psb/lapd_salary.htm http://per.lacity.org/psb/lapd_salary.htm Not even close to averaging 125k Houston PD http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee-salaries/houston/departments/police/537/?page=1 http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee... Again, much lower than what you're talking about. If cops in the 4 biggest cities in America aren't making that much, who is?
- WildUtah 13y ago
  Cops generally make a lot more than the official base pay. They get lots of routine highly compensated overtime even when working only 2000 hours a year. Published figures usually aren't representative. Seniority gives mid career cops lots of opportunities to pad overtime hours. Check the actual pay instead of salary schedules. Also, retirement with nearly full pay at age 50 is common. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/05/06/police_pay_can_exceed_250k/ http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-17/highest-paid-california-trooper-is-chief-banking-484-000.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-17/highest-paid-califo... http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/?name=&agency=CALIFORNIA+HIGHWAY+PATROL&salarylevel=200000#req=employee%2Fsearch%2Fname%3D%2Fyear%3D2013%2Fdepartment%3DCalifornia%20Highway%20Patrol http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/?name=&agency=CALIFORNIA+HIGH...
- auctiontheory 13y ago
  This Menlo Park police officer makes $133K in base salary, i.e. before overtime: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_22382095/menlo-park-police-officer-caught-naked-prostitute-while http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_22382095/menlo-park-police-off... That is significantly higher than the per-capita income in Menlo Park: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0646870.html http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0646870.html
balls187 13y ago
I don't have data to back up my refutes, but on the surface those numbers don't add up. In the US, state, counties, city and other local governments are struggling with their budgets. A police force with $400k in compensation per officer is way out of wack, and no way that tax payers would go for it. At that level of compensation, that puts police officers in the wealthiest 1% of Americans. I know here in Seattle (and the richer suburbs of Bellevue, Redmond, etc), it's a common complaint that police officers can't afford to live in the communities they protect.

throwaway344 13y ago

Yeah, with my experiences with police officers who I know personally they seem to earn nothing like that. Could you provide a source on those figures? I would be interested to learn about it.

learc83 13y ago

Those numbers don't sound right at all. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the median is 55k. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes333051.htm http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes333051.htm Since you said NY is stingy, I tried other big cities. Here's a list of Chicago PD salaries. https://data.cityofchicago.org/Administration-Finance/Police-Salary/ap92-235q https://data.cityofchicago.org/Administration-Finance/Police... The only people on that list with a salary of 125k are ranked captain and above. Here's the LAPD salary schedule. http://per.lacity.org/psb/lapd_salary.htm http://per.lacity.org/psb/lapd_salary.htm Not even close to averaging 125k Houston PD http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee-salaries/houston/departments/police/537/?page=1 http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee... Again, much lower than what you're talking about. If cops in the 4 biggest cities in America aren't making that much, who is?

WildUtah 13y ago
Cops generally make a lot more than the official base pay. They get lots of routine highly compensated overtime even when working only 2000 hours a year. Published figures usually aren't representative. Seniority gives mid career cops lots of opportunities to pad overtime hours. Check the actual pay instead of salary schedules. Also, retirement with nearly full pay at age 50 is common. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/05/06/police_pay_can_exceed_250k/ http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-17/highest-paid-california-trooper-is-chief-banking-484-000.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-17/highest-paid-califo... http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/?name=&agency=CALIFORNIA+HIGHWAY+PATROL&salarylevel=200000#req=employee%2Fsearch%2Fname%3D%2Fyear%3D2013%2Fdepartment%3DCalifornia%20Highway%20Patrol http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/?name=&agency=CALIFORNIA+HIGH...
auctiontheory 13y ago
This Menlo Park police officer makes $133K in base salary, i.e. before overtime: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_22382095/menlo-park-police-officer-caught-naked-prostitute-while http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_22382095/menlo-park-police-off... That is significantly higher than the per-capita income in Menlo Park: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0646870.html http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0646870.html

balls187 13y ago

I don't have data to back up my refutes, but on the surface those numbers don't add up. In the US, state, counties, city and other local governments are struggling with their budgets. A police force with $400k in compensation per officer is way out of wack, and no way that tax payers would go for it. At that level of compensation, that puts police officers in the wealthiest 1% of Americans. I know here in Seattle (and the richer suburbs of Bellevue, Redmond, etc), it's a common complaint that police officers can't afford to live in the communities they protect.