ronburgundy
Contributor
The median Police Officer Salary in 48k and 25% of them making under 38k per year. That includes all higher-ups and the 36% with more than 10 years on the job.
That means that most of the actual cops on the streets doing most of the arresting and with less than 10 years are probably getting less than 40k per year, with starting salaries as low as 25k (right at the poverty level for a family of 4).
This seems likely to have a major and very negative impact on who becomes a cop. Given the risks of the job, such salaries would exclude most educated people, and many with any kind of ambition or confidence to make a better living that that. It would seem to attract people who want to be a cop for its own sake, which is arguably much worse than people attracted by good pay and think they could do it well, but just see it as a job. I suspect that most those who want to be a cop for its own sake, despite low pay, are attracted by the "brotherhood" and us versus them mentality and by the physical conflict, and by the desire to be a gun-toting unquestionable (or you'll get beat) authority. IOW, close-minded, authoritarian, prone to violence assholes (the same sorts who run to enlist in the military whenever flags start waving).
These are not good qualities of police officers if you want them to be honest, willing to keep each other in check, and focused on helping and protecting people via de-escalation and as non-violent a means necessary.
Doubling police pay would attract a whole new segment of the population to the profession who are more likely to have less of those negative and more of those positive qualities.
OF course, that will only work if we put an end to other current hiring practices, which include actively excluding people whose IQ is "too high", and actively recruiting and favoring ex-vets.
That means that most of the actual cops on the streets doing most of the arresting and with less than 10 years are probably getting less than 40k per year, with starting salaries as low as 25k (right at the poverty level for a family of 4).
This seems likely to have a major and very negative impact on who becomes a cop. Given the risks of the job, such salaries would exclude most educated people, and many with any kind of ambition or confidence to make a better living that that. It would seem to attract people who want to be a cop for its own sake, which is arguably much worse than people attracted by good pay and think they could do it well, but just see it as a job. I suspect that most those who want to be a cop for its own sake, despite low pay, are attracted by the "brotherhood" and us versus them mentality and by the physical conflict, and by the desire to be a gun-toting unquestionable (or you'll get beat) authority. IOW, close-minded, authoritarian, prone to violence assholes (the same sorts who run to enlist in the military whenever flags start waving).
These are not good qualities of police officers if you want them to be honest, willing to keep each other in check, and focused on helping and protecting people via de-escalation and as non-violent a means necessary.
Doubling police pay would attract a whole new segment of the population to the profession who are more likely to have less of those negative and more of those positive qualities.
OF course, that will only work if we put an end to other current hiring practices, which include actively excluding people whose IQ is "too high", and actively recruiting and favoring ex-vets.