CHP Salaries (San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland: insurance, employment, construction)

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by californio sur

No offense but I have a really hard time appreciating a post criticizing the pay of law enforcement. Would you like to go to work each day knowing you might never come home due to the danger of your job? Some people seem to complain about everything but don't focus one bit on improving there own life. Now we have cop-haters on the forum!

Yes... I would... it was only my timing was off when I applied to several departments in the midst of a hiring freeze... I decided to get my degree first and then apply unlike 12 from my high school that went to community college and entered the academy... that extra 2 years changed everything.

Kind of ironic... reading about high school friends retiring at age 50 with 180k pensions plus medical benefits...

My Grandmother was very happy I didn't get in... my uncle died in the line of duty in Kern County.

Many I have talked to had no idea the career would provide this kind of benefits and retirement... I'm old enough to remember several of my friends dads that were cops working nights and weekends as private security to make enough money to pay the mortage and car notes... this was at the time when they all had stay at home moms...

A local Chief of Police said it was just timing... he made me an offer... pay my own way through a private academy, do well and he would hire me... I was unwilling to start out as a rookie with lots of debt where my friends got paid to go to the academy and the academy was free...

[CA central coast]

I'm not a cop hater or a cop lover, I'm pretty indifferent to the police. I don't have a big hang up when it's comes to their pay. But I have no tolerance for the, "they don't get paid enough", "oh they put their lives on the line for us", "professional athletes make too much, pay the real heros that money, like the police" crowd. That's bunch of BS. Cops get paid well, very well. San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Cadet's are probably making what what an engineer coming out of Cal Poly earns. And Cal Poly is one of the finest engineering schools in the country and SLO County is safe and a nice place to live....go figure. All you need to be a cop is a G.E.D., so please don't tell me they don't get paid enough.

Personally, I believe that education and age standards should be raised. 21 is too young, IMO. No life experience. Maybe a military exception, but a lot of 21yr. olds aren't mature enough. I'd like to see at least 23, with a bachelors degree, as a minimum. But that'll never happen.

[Lifeshadower]

Originally Posted by CA central coast

Personally, I believe that education and age standards should be raised. 21 is too young, IMO. No life experience. Maybe a military exception, but a lot of 21yr. olds aren't mature enough. I'd like to see at least 23, with a bachelors degree, as a minimum. But that'll never happen.

I kind of agree, but at least in the bigger cities of California (especially in LA), you won't find as many 23 year olds with degrees that would want to be cops. Most of the time, the police recruit locally for their cadets, and most of the people who live in bad neighborhoods want to leave them as quickly as possible. Why would they want to come back and patrol those same neighborhoods?

In addition, getting a bachelor's degree may not give you the requisite natural instinct or street smarts it takes to be a cop. However, there are some that do (like my friend who wants to be a cop after getting his B.A. from Berkeley), but the vast majority don't. That takes more than formal education to do so.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by eagle7

A private (E-1) in the military makes peanuts compared to a cadet. I was quite surprised of a cadets pay. Cadets earn over 4k month plus room/board/meals & full benefits. Anyone know what a private earns now? Oh..LAPD chief bratton looks like a cop so the job fits him perfectly. The bratton family is all cops. Scary!!!

$1447.20 a month whether he needs it or not. He also gets quarters and subsistance. In my day it was about $88 a month and we were also fighting a war (Vietnam).

[Just One of the Guys]

Back in the day, most women would've worked with him for free.

Originally Posted by Snort

But they have to work with the likes of Erik Estrada. That's what I call hardship pay.

[eureka1]

1. Cops and COs don't get paid ENOUGH for what they risk and put up with.
2. In my observation, people who constantly complain about what public employees are making usually turn out to be people who couldn't get hired and are still bitter.
3.For the record, I'm a homeowner and taxpayer in California.

[californio sur]

At risk for sounding melodramatic, I can not think of a more noble career than to risk one's life for others. Cops never know what the day may bring & even simple "domestic disputes" can end up being a fatal encounter. I saw a video of a cop who had stopped on a busy freeway to assist a driver who had skidded off the road in thick ice. This was back east somewhere. The cop was talking to the man when he noticed another car out of control & careening toward him & the other driver. Immediately the cop pushed the man out of harm's way before saving himself by jumping out of the way. The cop was unconscious & injured while the man he saved only had a few bruises. The driver of the other car, a woman, was hysterical. To me the cop was a hero & deserves all we can give him for his service to the community!

[steel7]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

$1447.20 a month whether he needs it or not. He also gets quarters and subsistance. In my day it was about $88 a month and we were also fighting a war (Vietnam).

Wow that really is peauts compared to a chp cadet. The state of ca pays damn well (highest in the nation). No wonder ca is in the crapper.

[Fontucky]

Well-paid cops are content cops, and content cops are less prone to corruption.

[CA central coast]

How much do you all think cops should be paid? 80-100K or more isn't enough? Like a previous poster said, nobody put a gun to their head. And I'm sorry, but being a cop is a fairly safe job. They risk their lives for US stuff is bunch of bull. Let's see them climb a pole during a storm to get our electricity flowing again. You want to talk about a dangerous job. Hey, that guy risked his life to get my television back on. He risked his life for me, a hell of a lot more than most cops do. But he did it because it's HIS job. "Domestic disturbance"? Well, he or she, has a gun, club, pepper spray and 'cuffs ans training. What elese do they need? a tank? And you don't have to be a cop to save someone's life. There are stories all the time about regualr people who don't hesitate for one second to save someone in danger.

My point to all this...they get paid enough.