Why are California Cops Paid So Much More than Cops Elsewhere? (San Francisco: income, living)

[steel7]

A lazy L.A. county cop (LT.marie Hannah) just retired from her 149k a year job. Shes now receiving 139k a year pension + full health & dental benefits. No wonder many ca cities & counties are broke incl ca.

[Dunbar42]

The salaries are high but not outrageous like the retirement benefits. Do you know how much money you'd have to set aside each year to pre-fund an $80K+ a year pension with free healthcare? It has to be something like 30-40% of salary.

Oh yeah, you can retire as early as age 50 with 20 years of service, draw a full pension, and go get another job (not that you'd need to for financial reasons.)

[Fontucky]

I've never had a problem with well-paid cops. It's when they're underpaid that corruption is invited.

[kettlepot]

Originally Posted by Ultralight

The cost of living is very high in California and so are the wages for Cops.
Although Californian cost of living could be lower toghter with higher wages if Califronia had a poperty tax system wothy its name.

We may not have a property tax system worthy of its name, but our Sales Taxes and Income Taxes are among the "Best" in the nation.

Government in California gets more than enough to make the system work if the other costs had been kept properly in line.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

So I was doing some research on the Census Website and came across the median salary for Law Enforcement in Cities.

Aside from LA and SD, Cops in some of CAs larger cities make a whole lot of money.

$80,000+ Across the US
Antioch, CA $100,000+
Baytown, TX $100,000+
Berkeley, CA $100,000+
Concord, CA $100,000+
Coral Springs, FL $100,000+
Dearborn, MI $100,000+
Framingham, MA $100,000+
Fremont, CA $100,000+
Garden Grove, CA $100,000+
Hayward, CA $100,000+
Hemet, CA $100,000+
Irving, TX $100,000+
Mountain View, CA $100,000+
New Rochelle, NY $100,000+
Oakland, CA $100,000+
Palmdale, CA $100,000+
Pleasanton, CA $100,000+
Providence, RI $100,000+
Redwood City, CA $100,000+
San Francisco, CA $100,000+
San Jose, CA $100,000+
San Mateo, CA $100,000+
Sunnyvale, CA $100,000+
Sunrise Manor, NV $100,000+
Thousand Oaks, CA $100,000+
Torrance, CA $100,000+
The Woodlands, TX $100,000+
Kent, WA $99,170
Vacaville, CA $95,951
Clovis, CA $95,395
Plymouth, MI $94,738
Tracy, CA $93,946
Irvine, CA $92,478
Grand Prarie, TX $90,075
Highlands Ranch, CO $92,036
San Marcos, CA $91,737
Camden, NJ $90,638
Cary, NC $90,635
Simi Valley, CA $91,574
Redondo Beach, CA $90,373
Carlsbad, CA $90,167
Mission Viejo, CA $90,104
Napa, CA $89,146
Murrieta, CA $88,445
Arlington, VA $88,297
Daly City, CA $88,064
Livermore, CA $87,915
Hoover, AL $87,629
Fontana, CA $87,154
Moreno Valley, CA $85,991
Frisco, TX $85,675
Temecula, CA $85,607
Newport Beach, CA $85,121
Quincy, MA $84,808
Lynn, MA $84,681
Visalia, CA $84,188
San Buenaventura, CA $82,817
Fairfield, CA $82,147
Long Beach, CA $81,656
Paradise, NV $81,642
Carrollton, TX $81,165
Sunrise, FL $80,753
Salinas, CA $80,490
Boston, MA $80,374
Anaheim, CA $80,144
Toms River, NJ $80,047
Ontario, CA $80,032
New Britain, CT $80,022

Major Cities
Seattle, WA $71,601
Sacramento, CA $70,145
Chicago, IL $67,544
New York, NY $62,220
Washington, DC $60,066
Kansas City, MO $56,953
San Diego, CA $56,784
Cincinnati, OH $56,555
Columbus, OH $56,526
Denver, CO $56,404
Los Angeles, CA $56,181
Milwaukee, WI $56,146
Philadelphia, PA $56,049
Las Vegas, NV $54,749
Minneapolis, MN $52,065
Memphis, TN $50,480
Houston, TX $50,239
Pittsburgh, PA $51,559
Dallas, TX $50,191
New Orleans, LA $49,465
Miami, FL $47,933
Cleveland, OH $46,713
Portland, OR $46,705
Phoenix, AZ $42,963
Charlotte, NC $42,069
Ft Worth, TX $40,842
Atlanta, GA $40,067
Nashville, TN $39,633
San Antonio, TX $37,381
Indianapolis, IN $37,015
St Louis, MO $34,194
Austin, TX $32,310

one reason, the cost of living and the LA cops are known for being as good as they come. Many, probably most have college degrees or go back to school to obtain them after they become cops.

[.highnlite]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

We may not have a property tax system worthy of its name, but our Sales Taxes and Income Taxes are among the "Best" in the nation.

Government in California gets more than enough to make the system work if the other costs had been kept properly in line.

Remember that the total tax burden in CA is no more than 4% greater than the total tax burden in the so called low tax states.

I don't understand why anyone would complain about cop salaries, heck, get thee to the cop recruiting office and start hauling in those great salaries. Easy money, eh?

[Newbe10]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

So I was doing some research on the Census Website and came across the median salary for Law Enforcement in Cities.

Aside from LA and SD, Cops in some of CAs larger cities make a whole lot of money.

$80,000+ Across the US
Antioch, CA $100,000+
Baytown, TX $100,000+
Berkeley, CA $100,000+
Concord, CA $100,000+
Coral Springs, FL $100,000+
Dearborn, MI $100,000+
Framingham, MA $100,000+
Fremont, CA $100,000+
Garden Grove, CA $100,000+
Hayward, CA $100,000+
Hemet, CA $100,000+
Irving, TX $100,000+
Mountain View, CA $100,000+
New Rochelle, NY $100,000+
Oakland, CA $100,000+
Palmdale, CA $100,000+
Pleasanton, CA $100,000+
Providence, RI $100,000+
Redwood City, CA $100,000+
San Francisco, CA $100,000+
San Jose, CA $100,000+
San Mateo, CA $100,000+
Sunnyvale, CA $100,000+
Sunrise Manor, NV $100,000+
Thousand Oaks, CA $100,000+
Torrance, CA $100,000+
The Woodlands, TX $100,000+
Kent, WA $99,170
Vacaville, CA $95,951
Clovis, CA $95,395
Plymouth, MI $94,738
Tracy, CA $93,946
Irvine, CA $92,478
Grand Prarie, TX $90,075
Highlands Ranch, CO $92,036
San Marcos, CA $91,737
Camden, NJ $90,638
Cary, NC $90,635
Simi Valley, CA $91,574
Redondo Beach, CA $90,373
Carlsbad, CA $90,167
Mission Viejo, CA $90,104
Napa, CA $89,146
Murrieta, CA $88,445
Arlington, VA $88,297
Daly City, CA $88,064
Livermore, CA $87,915
Hoover, AL $87,629
Fontana, CA $87,154
Moreno Valley, CA $85,991
Frisco, TX $85,675
Temecula, CA $85,607
Newport Beach, CA $85,121
Quincy, MA $84,808
Lynn, MA $84,681
Visalia, CA $84,188
San Buenaventura, CA $82,817
Fairfield, CA $82,147
Long Beach, CA $81,656
Paradise, NV $81,642
Carrollton, TX $81,165
Sunrise, FL $80,753
Salinas, CA $80,490
Boston, MA $80,374
Anaheim, CA $80,144
Toms River, NJ $80,047
Ontario, CA $80,032
New Britain, CT $80,022

Major Cities
Seattle, WA $71,601
Sacramento, CA $70,145
Chicago, IL $67,544
New York, NY $62,220
Washington, DC $60,066
Kansas City, MO $56,953
San Diego, CA $56,784
Cincinnati, OH $56,555
Columbus, OH $56,526
Denver, CO $56,404
Los Angeles, CA $56,181
Milwaukee, WI $56,146
Philadelphia, PA $56,049
Las Vegas, NV $54,749
Minneapolis, MN $52,065
Memphis, TN $50,480
Houston, TX $50,239
Pittsburgh, PA $51,559
Dallas, TX $50,191
New Orleans, LA $49,465
Miami, FL $47,933
Cleveland, OH $46,713
Portland, OR $46,705
Phoenix, AZ $42,963
Charlotte, NC $42,069
Ft Worth, TX $40,842
Atlanta, GA $40,067
Nashville, TN $39,633
San Antonio, TX $37,381
Indianapolis, IN $37,015
St Louis, MO $34,194
Austin, TX $32,310

I imagine that California cops get payed more for two reasons:

#1 California has one of the highest cost of living (no sarcasm is intended here) of any other state.

#2 Officers of the law (including state Corrections Officers) have to deal with some of the most dangerous criminals in the lower 48 of the United States (just look at Pelican Bay, Folsom, San Quentin, and Corcoran State Prisons, which from what I have always heard, house some of the most dangerous inmates in the country).

With a population of over 40 million (which is more than the total population of many countries around the world), and a land area of over 165,000 sq. miles, you are going to ALWAYS have a lot of trouble makers to deal with.

If I decided to be an officer in the State of California, I would EXPECT a higher rate of pay than other states just because of the info. above.

Anyway, God bless the officers of California (including the CHP and the local and state prison gaurds). You guys are, IMHO, the hardest working police force in the country.

BTW, good research 18Montclair. I would be nice to see more people on here put that much effort into research like you have.

[Hwy phantom]

[quote=Newbe10;22826644]I imagine that California cops get payed more for two reasons:

#1 California has one of the highest cost of living (no sarcasm is intended here) of any other state.

Many officers that work in LA and the Bay Area commute in to less expensive areas such as IE and Central Valley which works at well form them considering some work 3 day weeks.

#2 Officers of the law (including state Corrections Officers) have to deal with some of the most dangerous criminals in the lower 48 of the United States (just look at Pelican Bay, Folsom, San Quentin, and Corcoran State Prisons, which from what I have always heard, house some of the most dangerous inmates in the country).

Contrary to "what you heard", California's inmates are no worse than other states inmates.

With a population of over 40 million (which is more than the total population of many countries around the world), and a land area of over 165,000 sq. miles, you are going to ALWAYS have a lot of trouble makers to deal with.

See Texas, Florida, etc.

If I decided to be an officer in the State of California, I would EXPECT a higher rate of pay than other states just because of the info. above.

Which have been refuted.


Anyway, God bless the officers of California (including the CHP and the local and state prison gaurds). You guys are, IMHO, the hardest working police force in the country.

Again, based on what exactly?

[Ultrarunner]

It certainly has changed over the years... when my Uncle was a deputy... he and most of his friends had second jobs...

Same with the kids I went to school with a father or mother in law enforcement... they were always working security or night time cashier type jobs...

The retirement system for Public Safety is the great unfunded cost facing just about every city/county and the State.

The 12 I went to High School with are all doing well... only a few still on the job... one is a Chief and another Under Sheriff...

I do know a few that collect multiple pensions... they did nothing illegal... it was a combination of the right time and right place... and easier to do before most agencies went to the CALPERS system...

My city had to do outreach and would send recruiting teams a thousand miles or more to meet hiring goals... it wasn't all that long ago.

A few things have changed... officers now do pay a portion of their overall benefits... the really old system changed years ago where a retiree pay was based on what the position currently pays...

A few that retired years ago are getting double and one almost triple what he earned walking the beat...

[steel7]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

Good unions.

Greedy & powerful unions.