If your lookin to make a good living in law enforcement, be prepared to work extra shifts, off duty details, and as much overtime as you can get. Most of the time, the pay is just enough to scrape to get by. My brother in law is a police officer in Washington State makin 90k after only 3 years on the job. The cost of living there though means he and my sister bust their humps to get by.
I made 50k last year and was scrapin at times, and my base is 37k after 8 years, one shooting, broken hand (3x) a good ass whoopin and a blown out knee. Too add to that the governor has changed and is trying to change again my retirement (which now costs me over 100 bucks a month).
If your looking at LE for pay and benefits, please please please do me and yourself a favor and reconsider. Ive trained alotta guys who got into this career for the same reasons only for them to leave a short time later because they realized the pay and benefits alone arent worth it, which means someone else who wanted the job for the right reasons didnt get it.
And Dsmith, people suck! there is no other way around it. Deal with the incopetance, stupidity and the pure and utter meanness of people for long enough and you too will come to the same conclusion. Now not saying there are not a lot of great people out there and it is great to be able to truly help someone, but as a collective all of us included the human race SUCKS.
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He about sums it up I have been in law enforcement 7 years almost 8 now and it is a love hate relationship. I love what I do and my job, but I hate the pay. An yes ALL people suck LOL it makes my day to help people and see their appreciation, but on the other hand whan you deal with the wanna be thugs and number 2 heads who don't give a damn about their life or yours wel.......... lol you have to suck it up and be nice still LOL. Hope you do it if you want to do that and for the right reasons. This job has its own rewards and its own down falls at that. One of the biggest downfalls is the divorce rate. If you do make the streets be sure to join TMPA or one of the other LEO support groups. They can really help when you need it.
