Well, handing out traffic tickets and harassing citizens for pleasure isn't all that dangerous. And, well, pay isn't typically commensurate with how dangerous a job is. In fact, many of the most dangerous jobs in the US (police officer isn't among the top ten, FWIW) aren't well compensated at all.
Yeah, but that's not all cops do. I totally understand not liking cops, and sure, maybe in small rural communities that's the extent of their work, but in most major metropolitan areas the police do more than traffic tickets and pulling people over for being black. My point is that $75k a year is not really that much for a job that does have a risk of physical injury that is greater than the average, say, desk-job worker. I would say $75k/year is a nice salary, but not a high salary and certainly not a ridiculously high one.Well, handing out traffic tickets and harassing citizens for pleasure isn't all that dangerous
Haha, I was just typing an edit to say that I understand that there's a difference between urban and suburban police officers in terms of risk to their person. My contempt for police was borne out of being a kid in a suburban environment where nothing ever went wrong, yet they were always there to act like huge a-holes. That, plus the few cops I know personally are giant racists, half retarded, scum bags who make me feel less safe as a citizen. That said, I'm sure it's terribly dangerous to be a cop in Detroit, South Central, or the south side of Chicago. I don't envy them.
And see my comments are flavored by the fact that I have a co-worker who used to be a cop. He loved it. He worked in West Philly. He fucked up his knee and destroyed both Achilles' tendons chasing after suspects. He had a baby die in hs arms as he was trying to give it CPR. See, shit like that? Yeah, I'd say that deserves $75k a year. He was dischaged becasue he destroyed his body working for them and I guess could no longer keep up. That makes me sad. He's a good man. So, anecdotes. They're great for flavoring opinions :)