Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The cop in the article is making $10.50 per hour, paying $300 in child support to an 'ex-partner,' has a 2-yr-old, and wife is pregnant? And I'm supposed to feel sorry for him? He should have kept it zipped, polished his skills, and moved someplace where they pay their cops.
The state patrol here pays in the neighborhood of $70,000/yr(avg), and they are often hiring. Usually they say they can't find people who can pass their physical, which means a 1.5 mile run at a slow jog pace of 13 minutes, 25 pushups, and 35 or so sit ups.
The problem in the St. Louis area is that there are so many small municipalities. You drive 5 minutes, and you are literally in a new town. Drive 5 more minutes, and it's yet another town. Some of these towns don't have a PD, so they depend on the county, but a lot of them do have a tiny PD. If there is a serious crime the 'major case squad' takes over. That's a task force made up of cops from multiple jurisdictions.
Somehow I ended up with a duplicate thread. Apologize to all.
no apology required. What you will find with these small town cops is that their primary function is just as a modern-day brigand. They'll lie in wait on a downhill road on a rainy day and ticket you because you did not unsafely slam on your brakes.
A $10.50/hr cop can do this as easily as a $70,000/yr cop. Law enforcement, meet the Wal-Mart model.
The small town I used to live in paid their officers well enough that they were the highest paid public employees and almost the highest paid people in town.
There are places were 10.50/hr goes quite a ways, and some where 70K is peanuts.
The people in the areas with the $10.50 an hour cop are willing to pay for a $10.50 cop. What level would you demand that their taxes be raised to in order to pay $40 an hour for one?
There's definitely more going on here than is being portrayed in the story. The guy's pay stub clearly indicates he's new to the force (403 hours of pay YTD in October, probably been there less than 3 months.) He seems to be going backwards in his career, as this is apparently the third force he's been on in the St Louis metro and the lowest paying one. Why'd he leave the last place? And the one before that? Is he just not that good as a cop?
Furthermore, his child support is a $320.54 on a bi-monthly check, or $641.08 a month That's nearly 40% of his net after taxes. The guy's living hand-to-mouth because of that, not because the job doesn't pay enough.
I doubt he is putting anything away for his retirement.
If his current wife leaves him because he can't support them he is really in trouble. Life is full of choices and consequences.
I'm planning a cross country trip by automobile. I think I'll go around St. Louis.
But just in case I do get pulled over somewhere I will put a extra pack of hot dogs in the cooler. Never know, it might prevent me getting tasered, if he's mean and hungry, and I can distract him with the hot dogs, maybe I'll just get the ticket.
I can only must so much sympathy for a guy who has a $10.50 an hour job and $600/month in child support who fathers another child, much less two. My wife and I didn't make much money when we got married. We waited 7 years to have a child. In that 7 years, we gained a lot of experience which eventually led to much more lucrative jobs.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
