NJ is your neck of the woods, isn't it?
A hundred grand for a police officer does not sound unreasonable to me. My husband earns less than that but he doesn't do a job that requires him to put his life on the line every time he walks out the door or that requires him to work all kinds of odd hours and holidays. I'm sure there are many other areas of waste and corruption that could be addressed.
Hmmm. I have a hunch that either you or your husband - maybe both - are government employees (or government retirees). Am I right?
I'd be surprised if the police officers in my township earn that much. There's not much crime here. The article quoted salaries in northeast NJ - maybe they're working in high-crime areas. I don't know.
For a couple years, I lived in a very high crime area in PA (near Philadelphia) where the police force was understaffed - there was only one officer per patrol car - and they seemed so vulnerable and frightened all the time. So I agree they should be paid well (and should ride with a partner in high crime areas).
You're right - there are other cuts that should be made. It's the property taxes here (consisting mostly of school taxes) that are crippling us. And now we have Corzine as governor - the NEA and NJEA have him in their pockets.
What they should pay cops is enough so they can have enough cops and not a penny more. That's the market wage.
And there are much more dangerous careers than being a cop.