9 Boston police officers arrested in connection with overtime fraud scheme (Cambridge: construction, budget)

[msRB311]

I just don't ever foresee police OT being taken away. Literally no one would do the job at what the base pay is particularly in Boston/MA. I mean they literally couldn't afford to live in the state on those salaries. What would the incentive be to go through the academy, work brutal hours often and deal with the worst people society has to offer? Meanwhile other people make 200k to sit at a computer because they have bachelors in something. Makes sense.

Newsflash: people already don't want to be cops anymore even WITH the overtime pay.

[skeddy]

staffing police is a whole lot different than assigning people to make widgets. $hit happens on a daily basis that effects scheduling.

[msRB311]

It doesn't matter. People still want to be paid a decent wage especially with the cost of everything going up. People aren't taking low paying jobs anymore. Probably because they're tired of seeing what people in the corporate world get paid even if those are jobs they're not qualified to do. That's what all this talk of equal treatment and fair pay talk has done I think. Everyone thinks they should be making 6 figures. In the end people would rather get government assistance than work at Taco Bell or Walmart. The police depts know that if they take away OT who will want to work there for 75k a year knowing that people at one point were getting 150k with OT and details.

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by msRB311

What would the incentive be to go through the academy, work brutal hours often and deal with the worst people society has to offer? Meanwhile other people make 200k to sit at a computer because they have bachelors in something. Makes sense.

Newsflash: people already don't want to be cops anymore even WITH the overtime pay.

In Boston area, the average income of software engineers is MUCH lower than 200k.
And I do think software engineer is a more demanding job than police officer. (Here demanding means relatively few people can be trained to qualify.)

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by msRB311

The police depts know that if they take away OT who will want to work there for 75k a year knowing that people at one point were getting 150k with OT and details.

Increase the base salary then. Eventually OT is also government money, so why don't they make things more transparent?

Also police officers usually have much better welfares than employees of private corporations.

[msRB311]

Increasing the base for everyone still costs the city money does it not?

An engineering job requires a degree and more training but once you have it you're typically sitting at an office (or at home) doing what you were trained to do. You're likely not working an overnight shift, sitting in a car in a uniform or chasing bad guys or showing up to court for cases that will just be thrown out by a judge. It isnt a cushy job at all. I guess we'll see what happens but as of now it seems like many americans dont want to work unless it's for a good deal of money or they can be at home.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by Bettafish

Increase the base salary then. Eventually OT is also government money, so why don't they make things more transparent?

Also police officers usually have much better welfares than employees of private corporations.

Honestly what do you hope to accomplish by this? Sorry, but this has to be the most clueless idea I have ever heard of. You can't be the slightest bit familiar with what public service involves.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Honestly what do you hope to accomplish by this? Sorry, but this has to be the most clueless idea I have ever heard of. You can't be the slightest bit familiar with what public service involves.

Why though? A lot of people don't have paid overtime. If you compensate enough what's the deal with not paying overtime?

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Increasing the base for everyone still costs the city money does it not?

An engineering job requires a degree and more training but once you have it you're typically sitting at an office (or at home) doing what you were trained to do. You're likely not working an overnight shift, sitting in a car in a uniform or chasing bad guys or showing up to court for cases that will just be thrown out by a judge. It isnt a cushy job at all. I guess we'll see what happens but as of now it seems like many americans dont want to work unless it's for a good deal of money or they can be at home.

Base salary is more transparent than OT and is less controversial.
Since every cop has lots of OT, it's better to just increase the base.

Engineers need to learn new things too. Do you have any idea how fast the technology changes? They often work after hours too.

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Honestly what do you hope to accomplish by this? Sorry, but this has to be the most clueless idea I have ever heard of. You can't be the slightest bit familiar with what public service involves.

Which part is too hard for you to understand? Tell me and I can teach you.