$70k starting salary + 4 day week + car + $20k signing bonus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Comparing a cop to an engineering student is ridiculous. People are not choosing between those two careers. But you are underestimating how much police officers can make and over estimating how much engineers make after ten years.

Cops work 4 day weeks so working overtime could be equivalent to a five day work week. They are paid generously for overtime.

Everyone on this site complains about working extra hours for white collar jobs, cops can work those same hours and get paid.

You don’t need a college degree to be a cop.

You can retire after 25 years. I don’t know any engineers or white collar workers unless they are really wealthy who can retire at 47.

Can I just do a desk job pushing paper or do I have be a patrol cop?

Some departments have people in analyst positions. Most have dispatchers. There’s always the School Resource Officer program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is that good or bad? Seems like a whole lot of nothing.

It’s a better package than most engineering majors get fresh out of college. When you factor in overtime it’s not even close.

Except those engineers don’t need to worry about getting killed or disabled at work.

To be fair, all of us have to worry about that to some extent in this country. But yeah, it’s not part of the actual job.

Less than 1% of police officers get shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is that good or bad? Seems like a whole lot of nothing.

It’s a better package than most engineering majors get fresh out of college. When you factor in overtime it’s not even close.

Yes. But after 5 years an engineer will be at 90k and more without overtime.

And as a police officer, your life is at risk and you are dealing with scumbags all day.

[Anonymous]

In Fairfax county the 14th highest salary is for the Police Chief at $276,374. The Sheriff makes $259,159. The 3 Assistant Chiefs make $257,884. There are 8 Deputy Chiefs that all make $233,908. The Chief Deputy Sheriff makes $233,234. Then there another 4 Deputy Chiefs making $222,770. Next there are 2 Majors making $222,770 and another 12 making $212,162. Then come 4 Deputy Sheriffs making $211,599. Next are 10 more Majors making $202,059. That’s the point where I stopped checking the list.

None of the above includes overtime. You only find out about massive overtime when a reporter gets wind of it. There was an InsideVOVA piece in 2017 that showed mostly firefighters earning an extra $100,000 - $150,000 in overtime, but there were a few police officers in the $73,000 - $83,000 range.

In Montgomery County the Police Chief is the 2nd highest paid employee at $258,000. Of the highest 100 paid employees there were 24 members of the police department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is that good or bad? Seems like a whole lot of nothing.

It’s a better package than most engineering majors get fresh out of college. When you factor in overtime it’s not even close.

Except those engineers don’t need to worry about getting killed or disabled at work.

To be fair, all of us have to worry about that to some extent in this country. But yeah, it’s not part of the actual job.

Less than 1% of police officers get shot.

There’s also emotional weight you need to consider: a wellness check that leads to a deceased person, finding neglected children, and even putting down maimed deer.

There’s a lot about the job people don’t see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Fairfax county the 14th highest salary is for the Police Chief at $276,374. The Sheriff makes $259,159. The 3 Assistant Chiefs make $257,884. There are 8 Deputy Chiefs that all make $233,908. The Chief Deputy Sheriff makes $233,234. Then there another 4 Deputy Chiefs making $222,770. Next there are 2 Majors making $222,770 and another 12 making $212,162. Then come 4 Deputy Sheriffs making $211,599. Next are 10 more Majors making $202,059. That’s the point where I stopped checking the list.

None of the above includes overtime. You only find out about massive overtime when a reporter gets wind of it. There was an InsideVOVA piece in 2017 that showed mostly firefighters earning an extra $100,000 - $150,000 in overtime, but there were a few police officers in the $73,000 - $83,000 range.

In Montgomery County the Police Chief is the 2nd highest paid employee at $258,000. Of the highest 100 paid employees there were 24 members of the police department.

This is what I call the blue collar secret - lots of jobs the salaried professional class look down on do the same or even better as their white collar equivalents due to overtime that like you said is rarely disclosed. I taught in NYC in 2014-2016 and back then some teachers with 10 YOE were making $175K all in with overtime and summer work (aka working normal hours for most business people). Police in my small hometown make $300K+ with overtime. And I’m not talking crazy overtime either. I think there was some DC cop who hit $400/500 with some insane overtime hours though. It was in an article from a few years ago - maybe WaPo?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Fairfax county the 14th highest salary is for the Police Chief at $276,374. The Sheriff makes $259,159. The 3 Assistant Chiefs make $257,884. There are 8 Deputy Chiefs that all make $233,908. The Chief Deputy Sheriff makes $233,234. Then there another 4 Deputy Chiefs making $222,770. Next there are 2 Majors making $222,770 and another 12 making $212,162. Then come 4 Deputy Sheriffs making $211,599. Next are 10 more Majors making $202,059. That’s the point where I stopped checking the list.

None of the above includes overtime. You only find out about massive overtime when a reporter gets wind of it. There was an InsideVOVA piece in 2017 that showed mostly firefighters earning an extra $100,000 - $150,000 in overtime, but there were a few police officers in the $73,000 - $83,000 range.

In Montgomery County the Police Chief is the 2nd highest paid employee at $258,000. Of the highest 100 paid employees there were 24 members of the police department.

This is what I call the blue collar secret - lots of jobs the salaried professional class look down on do the same or even better as their white collar equivalents due to overtime that like you said is rarely disclosed. I taught in NYC in 2014-2016 and back then some teachers with 10 YOE were making $175K all in with overtime and summer work (aka working normal hours for most business people). Police in my small hometown make $300K+ with overtime. And I’m not talking crazy overtime either. I think there was some DC cop who hit $400/500 with some insane overtime hours though. It was in an article from a few years ago - maybe WaPo?

To your point, the highest paid Baltimore City employee in 2024 was a paramedic that grossed $358,586 by earning more than $245,000 in overtime. It was originally reported in the Baltimore Sun but it’s paywalled. The link below has the whole story.

https://www.foplodge4.org/blog/a-paramedic-was-the-highest-paid-baltimore-city-employee-in-fiscal-year-2024/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old is too old to be a police officer? Can you start in your 50's?

If you want to be one of those 7-11 police who just sit in your cruiser and eat donuts and make an occasional traffic stop?

Can you run more than a few blocks with body vest, gun and taser strapped on and not be out of breath?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you run more than a few blocks with body vest, gun and taser strapped on and not be out of breath?

I’m going to guess that very few people here can put on a 25 pound bulletproof vest and a gun belt and run more than a few blocks without being out of breath on a day like today. Enjoy your AC and The View today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is that good or bad? Seems like a whole lot of nothing.

It’s a better package than most engineering majors get fresh out of college. When you factor in overtime it’s not even close.

Except those engineers don’t need to worry about getting killed or disabled at work.

To be fair, all of us have to worry about that to some extent in this country. But yeah, it’s not part of the actual job.

Less than 1% of police officers get shot.

There’s also emotional weight you need to consider: a wellness check that leads to a deceased person, finding neglected children, and even putting down maimed deer.

There’s a lot about the job people don’t see.

There are certainly stressors associated with police work. All but the deer you mentioned above can also affect people in EMS, social work, child protective services, nursing and other medical professions. You don’t forget the 2 AM gunshot victim calls where you need to apply chest seals and address a tension pneumothorax with a dart to keep them alive until EMS can get them to the ER.

[Anonymous]

State Police in the NoVa area start at $75k year one and go to $80k year two. There is a lot if overtime too.

You can’t beat their new cars!

https://fb.watch/ARvJnySwlm/?

[Anonymous]

As you prepare to send your children back to their colleges and universities you may want to suggest attending any career fairs on campus. Be sure to mention that it would be worth their while to stop by any law enforcement booths for a chat. The profession is always hiring and a college degree generally garners a higher starting salary than what is advertised online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is that good or bad? Seems like a whole lot of nothing.

It’s a better package than most engineering majors get fresh out of college. When you factor in overtime it’s not even close.

Yes. But after 5 years an engineer will be at 90k and more without overtime.

without getting shot or punched

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is that good or bad? Seems like a whole lot of nothing.

It’s a better package than most engineering majors get fresh out of college. When you factor in overtime it’s not even close.

Except those engineers don’t need to worry about getting killed or disabled at work.

To be fair, all of us have to worry about that to some extent in this country. But yeah, it’s not part of the actual job.

Less than 1% of police officers get shot.

There’s also emotional weight you need to consider: a wellness check that leads to a deceased person, finding neglected children, and even putting down maimed deer.

There’s a lot about the job people don’t see.

There are certainly stressors associated with police work. All but the deer you mentioned above can also affect people in EMS, social work, child protective services, nursing and other medical professions. You don’t forget the 2 AM gunshot victim calls where you need to apply chest seals and address a tension pneumothorax with a dart to keep them alive until EMS can get them to the ER.

Of course there’s emotional stress in other professions. But this thread is about law enforcement, and nobody had mentioned that police officers have to deal with a ton of emotional stress.

Acknowledging their stress doesn’t take away from the stress other professions experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is that good or bad? Seems like a whole lot of nothing.

It’s a better package than most engineering majors get fresh out of college. When you factor in overtime it’s not even close.

Yes. But after 5 years an engineer will be at 90k and more without overtime.

without getting shot or punched

My nephew has 4 years on the job. He’s never been punched. He’s never been shot. He works 7 days(10 hour shifts) every 2 weeks. His salary in $93,000. Last month he did 8 hours of training each week on days off. That was just under $2,500 in overtime for training alone. When he goes to court he gets overtime. It seem like every time he blinks he gets overtime. All in he makes $150,000+ at 26. He doesn’t worry about AI. He has no fear of being downsized. He’s investing a lot of money. He loves what he does and doesn’t consider it work because he loves what he does. He can’t imagine being an automaton in a cubicle farm staring at a screen all day.