I have just recently retired from the police force. There is no such thing as comptency payments and there is very little if any overtime for uniformed officers. All annual increments have been stopped along with pay rises for 5 years. Police officers also pay nearly 14% in pension contributions. I can tell you 100% that people leaving places like corus, Dvla along with the nonsense that is community support officers have to take paycuts to join the police and to use a dai quote that is fact. I retired as a Sergeant and I can tell you i earned nowhere near £49,000, so where someone has got these figures from i dont know.
I vor as i said i spent 30 years in the police. I believe i earned every penny i was paid. I have been shot at, I have had people try and stab me on several occasions, I was at Brixton and Tottenham riots. I have been attacked with one other officer by over 100 football fans at the back of the old shed end.I have been assaulted to many times to count. I didnt see a christmas day nor a new years eve for 30 years. I couldnt attend my sons early school sports day or school concerts, I could go on and on. but that was the job i chose to do that job and never once moaned about it Yes there are bad police officers I agree with you. But, there are bad brickies, bad footballers, bad solicitors, but surely we cant tar all with the same brush, (not sure if i am allowed to say that these days). 95% of police officers are hard working normal people. We can all criticise them, where would we be without them. Have a look at the number of bobbies killed in the line of duty, Surely £25,000 a year isnt to much to pay them. I doubt whether any of these deserved the fat pension they paid into either. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19634164
Capitalism is just a pyramid scheme. All the money goes upwards. The few quid we think we are getting goes back in and upwards as we have to spend it to survive and get less and less for it as time goes by. In all the major economies the vast majority of wealth is owned by a very small percentage, in the US it's 50% of wealth owned by 1% of people. This new austerity across the world is a new version of capitalism compared to the one Thatcher created, one forced on us, giving us far less for what we pay. Eventually the masses will be pretty much like Dairy cows or the human batteries in the Matrix it's really not funny though. We the masses of workers and consumers are the lifeblood of the system that makes the wealth end up in the hands of the very few. The biggest illusions in today's society are choice and equality.
Pay for a Sergeant is between £35k - £40k. Pension contributions are high, but you do get one hell of a pension.
The overtime that comes down to front line officers is minimum, the majority of overtime is spent on major incidents, murders, major crime investigations. I dont care what you have or where you have got the overtime figures from. Frontline officers overtime amounts to bank holidays and not much else. But the again Monty if it is that well paid, you could always apply and do the job yourself.
What a top post, 100 % correct mate, everything else is all bullshit designed to take people's eye off the ball, politics being a great smoke screen as the agendas of both major parties are basically the same . Nothing worse than people moaning on a message board about how bad things are for them or the cause they support when in fact it's bad for everybody,which was the point I was trying to make in a hamfisted way We are all in this together and the sooner we realize this the better
Trunds, I'm happy to accept that you were one of the dedicated few that I referred to. I can only post from my own experiences, which have not been good and there have been plenty of them. As I mentioned, I know and have known many coppers of both sexes, some family, some very good friends. I can quote (but won't) a whole lot of things that might surprise people on this board. This is not to say they are bad folk because they are far from that. As you say, don't tar everyone with the same brush because there are good and bad in all walks of life. I have formulated my opinions based on experience but I will always accept that there are others with different experiences with consequently differing views. PS: Many coppers are worth every penny of what they earn because they care and do the job properly. But I do think that hefty starting salaries paid to starters who are unproven and untested is unwarranted.
I am not saying that all Police officers are overpaid. My point was in response to the guy who said police and firefighters are underpaid which I believe is not the case. IMO a 21yr old novice constable should not be getting close to £30k a year, especially when an experienced Sergeant with 20 years experience may only be getting ~£37k. I spent four years at a top University, got good grades and a big student loan, managed to get a job with a blue-chip company, had to relocate to London, and I was on less than probably the majority of police constables my age who had next to no qualifications and a job on their doorstep - that's not right. From 1st September I believe things are changing though, with a £19k per year initial wage for constables.
As i said Ivor I agree there is bad in every occupation, how much contact with the police have you had to have such a bad impression of them. I've stayed in a few bad hotels, but still use one when i go away. Let me assure you there are a lot more honest dedicated good men and women who put their lives on the line everyday out there all over the country, than there are bad lazy ones. I am bound to back them up i was one, but i am not stupid enough not to know there arent some baduns out there. Thats my last on this subject. Unfortunately if people have formed impressions it is hard to change them. I hope one day if you ever need them they go someway to changing your mind. See you should have had me or one of mine dealing with you and your would have loved them all then.
Wow, 5 police shot dead in 20 years. Hardly Afghanistan is it. Now what do soldiers get paid..... Statistically farmers are more at risk of accidentally shooting themselves than police are of getting shot.
But the again Monty if it is that well paid, you could always apply and do the job yourself. well said. the police do a fantastic job under pressure that nobody on here would understand. they are under paid if anything and deserve every penny they earn.....
what an incredible turn around. By that logic if you think MP's are paid too much for the job they do then why don't you try and become one rather than moan about it? Same goes for complaining about public v private sector wages - if you don't like it get another job.
I could do a better job but i dont want to be an MP.....the police,fire service, armed forces, and nurses are just a few who deserve more than any MP.....did not the expenses scandal teach you anything and they are still getting it through the back door.....Do you know that if an mp loses their seat they still draw an mp's salary for the next 4 years...Its called settling in period ....Lembit opik disclosed that fact not long ago...
