California police departments are offering signing bonuses and double-digit raises as they compete to hire cops after losing officers in tight labor market…
Full story: Why CA police agencies are offering new bonuses and perks – CalMatters
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Appalachian State University
As a taxpayer would you be happy if your city was giving $75,000 bonuses to new police officers? Is this a reasonable allocation of resources or should this money go to other things such as schools or social services? I believe it would depend on the city. If a city has an extremely high crime rate and quick action should be taken then it would be a reasonable allocation of funds. On the other hand, if it were a city with an average crime rate then it would be unreasonable to give such a large amount of money for a signing bonus. But the root of the problem comes down to the low pay that the majority of police officers receive. If cities and counties payed their officers a decent wage, then there would be no need for ludicrous signing bonuses. This would of course be more expensive in the long run but would keep police departments staffed and would reduce the shortage of police officers in this country.