Cops pay into there pension but the state or local government pays the rest. How? Through property taxes. Cops can retire after just 20 years and get a pension, that's crazy. It should be raised to 25 years and they should have to contribute more to their pensions and healthcare. I do think both Cops and firefighters need to be offered better benefits in order to entice people into joining the department but a new line in the sand needs to be drawn. Forces also should be combined. New Jersey for example has the most cops per capita.too many cops in jersey and too many cops having desk jobs.
During the numerous teachers strikes across the country a few months back, I would peruse the comments section and got a very good glimpse of the liberal teachers union mentality. All of those property taxes (in particular in the high property tax states) were seen as THEIR money. It didn't matter that housing values had dropped 30-40% (if not more from peak values), AND that the taxing "authorities" had re-valued the multiplier so that the same schmoe who lost 40% in value was paying MORE in property taxes than he was in 2007-08...to the teacher's unions that was completely fair...and it was only "fair" that they got their guaranteed raises, their premium healthcare plans, their guaranteed pensions. It didn't make a difference that the taxpayer had to cough up more and more money for a declining asset, it was THEIR money.