The path to one of the most lucrative entry-level jobs in US law enforcement begins at a squat police academy nestled on a residential street in San Francisco. Enrollment has been plunging. The academy graduated 26 officers last year, the lowest tally in at least a decade and less than a third of the 2019 total. While this year’s group is likely to be bigger, only a half dozen recruits on a recent day were hammering their batons on practice bags, rehearsing jiu-jitsu-like techniques and wrestling each other to the ground in a gym adorned with a large American flag.
The scarcity underscores a major problem for San Francisco, but one that’s also plaguing cities and towns across the US. San Francisco beefed up efforts this month to reverse the slide by lifting the starting pay for officers with no experience to $112,398 — the highest for rookie cops in big US cities, nearly double the level in New York City and more than what many US Secret Service agents earn.
Poster Comment:
They could offer legal insurance in case you get sued for misgndering an ugly 300 pound thing. And special treatment for diseases caused by poop. And they could give them a special permit to pitch a tent in the park because that is not enough to buy a house.