America has become a two-tiered, almost feudal society, with millionaire government “workers” living in mansions making extravagant wages and pensions while private sector Americans struggle to survive.
Throughout the 2020 coronavirus “pandemic,” no government employee anywhere lost a single paycheck, while they commanded millions of others to lose theirs.
Now at last the luxurious lifestyles and pay of cops is coming under notice. The New York Post recently ran a story about Port Authority officers (who police New York’s ports and airports) making over $300,000 annually. The top earner, Regina Womack, pulled in $423,467–more than the U.S. President.
The New York Times ran a story about the extravagant pay of California’s cops. “In 2015, five San Jose police officers each made more than $400,000,” as did other cops around the state.
More than half of Contra Costa County, California’s 150 county employees make over $300,000 annually. Median household (not per-capita) income in the county is $80,000.
In Massachusetts, 245 state troopers made over $200,000 annually.
The hefty pay of these millionaire cops is often padded with overtime hours. Often, cops exaggerate their overtime and submit the bills to private arenas and road construction companies, who are intimidated into subsidizing the jet-set lifestyles of police. Three Louisville, Kentucky officers were convicted of lying about overtime in 2020. They told a federal judge that padding and lying about overtime is part of police culture.
Long-suffering taxpayers must pay not only the wages and massive pensions of officers. They are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in payouts for police abuses. In 2019, rampaging millionaire cops cost taxpayers over $300 million in litigation payouts.
