Cops -- overpaid or underpaid?

Cops are overpaid because most of them sit in Tim Horton munching on donuts. Ok a little exacgeration
because they munch on cookies instead.
Start with police chief and start the custback there. A twenty percent reduction of these overpaid
glorified security guards should balance the budget. The police are paid from my tax dollars. What
return do I get? Answer: Look at G20 summit. Did they need all those officers working like getstapos?
It is time to say eneough is eneough. Their pay should be reduced or fire thousand police easily and
let police cheif maintain his high salary and pension benefits plus plus .....for other police officers.
The performance of police does NOT match the pay. Yes definitely overpaid using my tax dollars.

Cops overpaid?? I think they are paid what their worth. Next time you need help? Dont call 9-1-1 if you think they are overpaid... now actors, athletes, politicians?? Now thats something to complain about.

-Cameron from Campbell River BC

I live in north end Winnipe, gang violence is rampent.
people sell drugs all over landlords dont take care of buildings.
kids as young as 4 years old running down street with other kids under 12 late at night ( 2am and cops drive right bye )
you call for one some one needs to be dead or close to it.
maybe they are afraid to do there jobs.
maybe the jails are full.
maybe courts are full
who knows have called them before they never show up till 2 or 3 days later after damage is done.
cops in winnipeg for the most part are useless as teats on a bull
over paid hell they dont do anything most of the time

go on and beech all you want...like what Cameron said if your gonna complain about the police and what they do and salaries they make then go for it but when you need the help dont call 911 wanting the police to come and help you and fix your stupid little problems for you. Grow up and realize that without police or law enforcement there would be civil unrest and major problems in society...then maybe you would have something to bitch about....

Yes, since we are double taxed for their "service."
First you get your regular taxes to pay for the police force.
And then they give you a speeding ticket or a no seat belt ticket or talking on your phone ticket, which goes into the city coffers, the same coffers that spent your tax dollars to have this guy be on the street give you a ticket...

Police services could be privatized, pay some security company to go out and give parking and speeding tickets, they pay for their own staff and give the city 40-60% of the tickets. So the city wins.

Sure keep the over priced police that do work, undercover, drug, gun, gang, ETF and marine squads and the detetectives...

Do you really need a police officer watching a construction crew digging a hole in the street??? NO you need him directing traffic, but they don't do that, they just stand there and do nothing...

I think they get paid for what they are worth. When you loved one or spouse goes off to work in the morning , most do not even wonder if they will get shot or die doing their job. So happy when that same loved one/spouse arrives home after work- thankful that they are alive and well. It is a job that society complains about- never there when you want them to be- but glad they are when truly needed.
If you complain about their breaks at Tim's- look around-ernie's electrical and joes plumbing are all at Tim's....just they don't have cherries on their work vans- maybe the cops should start having their breaks at strip clubs

Police in Canada are over paid, and there benefits is a lot more than what a Nurse or MD gets.
It just rip my heart apart to see how much their pay was for the G8/G20 and we have our own people (Aboriginals) suffering from whating medical care, etc, etc. when all that tax payers money was spent on politicians whos pay is already exurbitent...

Cops overpaid....what??? The reason why officers are paid well is because they lay their lives on the line every single day to fix "your problems" that you created yourself. They get paid well because they have good training...why? Because the courts and public demand it! Before you ever criticize police, take a second to actually compare it to your cushy job that requires you to sit at your desk, with the only concern being is where you're going to have lunch that day. Police have way more things to worry about then that....try a ride along and you'll be pleasantly surprised that being at Tim Hortons is a very small percentage of their day. What....officers don't eat? Yes they do, they are human like you and I. Don't like them, well don't call them when you need help. I like you complainers about tickets being a tax..a tax? what? Because you decided to talk on your cell phone and crunched into someone, who are you going to call? A lowly security guard? No a police officer that will charge you for waisting his and everyone elses time for being irresponsible. You reap what you sow, all you complainers couldn't hack the first week of police training. Quit talking the talk, try walking the walk, you'll see how it really is. enough said.

...no one or any institution will ever convince me that our men in blue...lomao... are underpaid. The most unproffessional ones are "town coppers" !! Hey you wanna be's...
stop harrassing the average citizens and start being brave anough to apprehend the real bad guys....lmao.... ps. and remove those 2 cartoons of cigarettes that you carry under your armpits to inflate you more, it doesn't scare people....start beinng human... Claude F. Gauthier...

Police in Toronto are over paid. A starting pay after 3 years of $75,000 is ridiculous. Considering they only require a collage diploma. Maybe if they went to school for 7 years that would be reasonable.
The main reason I know they are over paid is that a large group of my friends and people I know are applying and there are hardly any job vacancies. They could reduce the pay and still have people lining up for the job. That is the definition of over paid.

Also statistically it is not a dangerous job. A construction worker has a greater chance of dying while working then a Police officer. If anything the military and the police salary should be switched. The military has a real dangerous job.

I find it amusing how we little people attack each other over our salaries. All jobs seem overpaid from the outside. We are talking about jobs that for the most part pay between$ 50 000 and $100 000 per year. The average salary in Canada is about $45 000.

Now lets look at some jobs that we can legitimately ask this question about overpayment. The best example is CEO compensation. These guys make huge salaries with great benefits. If they mess up they get to leave with a golden handshake of millions of dollars. Lets attack their salaries. How about bank executives? How about those scoundrels in the financial and banking industry that manipulated investments to increase their bonuses and brought the world economy to its knees.

If you want to question compensation start at the top not at the bottom where wage increases are stagnating and benefits are being reduced.

While the wages have been going up, the respect given to the public and the respect earned by police officers has diminished. Maybe they have been watching too much American TV cop shows, but they are starting to be scared and acting tough to compensate. Nothing is worse than a scared cop with a gun or tazer.

The police dept is merely a section of the massive bureaucracy that exists in Canada today. Like all bureaucrats they get nice wages, nice pensions, nice benefits and get to retire early. Additionally the cops get to carry guns and ride around all day in special edition Crown Victoria Police Interceptor's which don't come cheap.
However I don't think I'd like the bit where they have to come into physical contact with disease ridden junkies who are trying to bite them in the arm. I'd take the desk sergeants job instead thx.
I think the total figure for all government workers is approx 15% of the working population. I wouldn't want to even guess what the payroll would be for the whole crew but thats where the pruning has to start.
It'll never happen of course. Since the days of the Romans every dictatorial regime has relied on a fat crowd of bureaucrats to snoop and control the population ( hence the saying : Who takes care of the caretaker ? ).
Yes we are over-policed but we are also over controlled in every aspect of our lives in this country.
Do I really need two security guys chasing me around the government liquor store every time I go in to buy a bottle of wine.?

Cops are paid well, you can't disagree with that. I am a police officer so my opinion may be slighted but I think that our pay is earned. Today's police officers deal with liability and dangers unheard of previously in the service. We have mere seconds to make decisions that impact other people's lives forever and we are judged more harshly than any other section of society. When everyone else is running away who do you expect to run in? I like the sentiment mentioned above "don't call", but that isn't fair because if you never call then I can never prove you wrong.

Have you heard this one? At any given time, there are more firefighters paid to eat and sleep than there are police officers patrolling your city. Look it up... it will be true in your city too! Firefighters earn the same as police officers...should we now argue about pay at every level of public service? Why don't we instead look at where our tax dollars really go? Why pennies on the dollar actually make it to the hospital floors or to the classrooms. This conversation could start to get interesting.

WATCH OUT !!!!

There are cops usually sits at these area: Steels/Warden/Bamburgh area, just to watch drivers if they stop on the stop signs for 15 seconds or they waived and hand out tickets. They just sit there and hand tickets, they are making
like $50 and hour ??! for the EASY job, the area is high end, nice, quite neighborhood... WHY THE CAN'T SIT AT FINCH/JANE...ALBION... AND ALL THE ROUGH neighborhood and do the REAL COP JOB???!, they don't go in those area, I don't see cops there. They sat in the corner of quiet neighborhood and sip coffee and hand ticket for $ 50 bucks or more an hour!

When a person decides a career in law inforcement, they know exactly what is involved. The compensation package is negotiated for them by their union. Their job can be very dangerous, but they had a choice.

So what is the appropiate amount of pay for someone who has a substantial risk of injury or loss of life, every day on the job? Where one is constantly placed in life-threatning situations, and where one has to always anticipate being placed into life-threatning situations? As imperfect as law enforcement can be, what is the right amount of pay? What if their were no police? Who do you call? Sure, maybe some days or alot of days are easy for them, but they are on stand-by. What about those times when they are called to duty? Do you want to deal with people in hostile situations under hostile circumstances? What about those days where you just want to go to work, do your job and go home, knowing that most of your day will go by without any major drama or risk to your life?

I don't think cops are overpaid! They put their lives on the line everyday! Most people don't really see what the police deal with everyday...not everything goes in the newspapers but police deal with things that no one else wants to deal with. They go into dangerous places where no one else will go, they see things that no one would ever want to see in their life times! Yes they made the choice to do this type of work but they chose that to help protect you and me!

Who do everyone call when they need help? POLICE.

I think they are underpaid for what they do!

Cops are way overpaid. The salary is just the base and when you throw in OT and a pension it is crazy! Ever wonder why you pay so much tax? All this garbage about it being a dangerous job is ridiculous and there are much more dangerous jobs out there that don't come with a pension and huge funeral if you do happen to die. Pure media hype that the Police Union just loves to keep going; we are in danger every day. Farming and construction have more deaths per capita than being a cop. Stop believing all the hyperbole.

Here's a simple question for all of you in the "cops are paid too much" camp. How many of you leave your family in the morning to go to work, and have to wear a bulletproof vest with the very real possibility you will need it? Anyone? Didn't think so. It's easy to question government spending on police services when you live in a country as safe as Canada. As dramatic as it may sound, making a decision to go into policing is a decision to put everything else in your life second. If we start cutting wages for these critical jobs, what caliber of people are we going to have enforcing the laws that keep us all safe? I want to know that we have the best, brightest, and most highly trained police officers possible, and I for one am happy to pay for it.