• SoleInvictus@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Cops in my area get paid about 70-100K USD yearly, but it’s a high cost of living area. Sergeants and above, though, make bank. We’re taking $120K and above. They’re just as shitty as cops in the sticks. It’s anecdotal, but I wonder if fixing income alone has little effect.

    • piecat@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Low bar and high pay? Huh.

      Yeahhh they need a higher bar. And then the pay to match that.

      • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        The other thing is that the bar should be for going over not under. They have standards for maximum intelligence and won’t hire people who are too smart.

        • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          That’s not strictly or universally true. Yes, there was a federal (SCOTUS?) case about that, I think for New Hampshire, and the rationale was that people that were too smart (>120 IQ) tended to get bored on the job and quit, which costs the city more in training. BUT I don’t think that all police departments use the same hiring practices.

          I can’t speak for all police agencies, but over a decade ago I applied for Chicago PD, because I figured that it didn’t take much to be a better person and cop than Jason Van Dyke, or Anthony Abbate. The application test was pretty easy, except for recognizing faces (mostly because the pictures were photocopies that were 1" square). The problem was that they had a lot of things that moved you up on the selection process, like, did you have an immediate relative that was a cop, did you have prior military service, did you go to public schools in Chicago, etc… That meant that people with cop relatives ended up getting hiring preference over people that were smarter and better suited for the job.

          In retrospect, I’m really glad I didn’t get high enough up in the lottery to get an offer; the more I learn about policing, the less I like police agencies in general, even if there are individual cops I can respect.

    • Lowpast@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      The median gross pay among Seattle PD’s more than 2,000 employees 2020 was about $153,000, not including benefits, with 374 employees grossing at least $200,000 and 77 making at least $250,000

    • trackcharlie@lemmynsfw.com
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      9 months ago

      Income and proper mental health management as well as proper holiday/forced holiday’s post stressful engagements.