zlacker

>>miles+(OP)
A common response to the idea of "police reform" is that it will make it harder/more expensive/etc to hire police, which we all agree we need.

As an armchair economist who believes that everything DOES happen at the margins, we can't completely ignore this, so I'm at least somewhat sympathetic to the argument.

But what really kills the argument is looking at how our medical professionals have stepped up and responded to COVID-19, putting their lives on the line every day, with utterly inadequate gear. And still they serve.

Yes, if the police are less militarized and have more personal liability/responsibility, it will reduce the level of interest in the profession somewhat, but I think we have to not kid ourselves about the degree of such an impact.

This is before we get into whether we really even want "those people" (who are attracted to the militaristic side of policing) 'serving' our communities at all.

Just as anti-pursuit policies have swept the nation to reduce officer-involved carnage, we can reduce escalation of violence.

>>rconti+Me
I agree that both professions have the same sort of "service in a time of crisis" mythology surrounding them but how does the fact that the norm for the medical profession is high pay where as the norm for police is slightly above minimum wage starting out with a shot as average pay after several years of service affect those myths?

>>pmoric+3g
The San Jose cop that caught controversy was found by public records to be getting paid over 200k a year: "According to Transparent California, a salary database of public employees, Yuen has worked for SJPD since at least 2014 and made about $153,000 in regular pay and overtime in 2019 as part of a total $226,000 compensation package." You can also look at Seattle police salaries (https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/databases/article2586102... it is normal for police to be getting paid 150k+.

>>meowsn+Sl
I was between jobs this time last year, and started rooting around in my local town's salary publications. In the top 50 salaries for my mid-size MA town, about 50% were police (starting at places 2, 3, 4 and then like 8?), with the average salary (including overtime) at about 175k$.

There are also 54 people listed as working as "[XXX] police [XXX]", in a town of 41k.

For the record, there is an average of one violent crime a day in my town, and stats like 7 projected rapes in 2020 (0 murders).

Whether or not that's all justified, I leave as an exercise to the reader.