Fox News Headline of the Day

[skyth]

And for the actual story...It's about pay.

www.yahoo.com/news/entire-police-department-minnesota-resigns-194027471.html

The Goodhue Police Department resigned due to issues with the city's pay, Mayor Ellen Anderson Buck said at a city council meeting Monday

[adurot]

Police: Hey, our pay sucks, fix it.
City: Alright, that’s the agenda of the next meeting.
Police: Our pay sucks, we quit.
City: Well I guess we don’t need to discuss their pay anymore.

[easye]

Meanwhile, the County Sheriff will just step in for their Law Enforcement needs...


Although, I do have to say I was looking at some starting wages for Police and it was appallingly low.

[Disciple of Fate]

Doesn't low depend on location? From outside the US, the pay and benefits package for police officers appears relatively generous for the level of training/education/effort required.

[easye]

Perhaps in relation to the education/training.... but that is another matter.

Most police officers probably can't even buy a home in the places they police on their own salaries. I usually see starting Cops at 40K with a lot of nights and weekends when you are starting.  The big "benefit" is they have a relatively early retirement and pension strategy compared to other workers.

Basically, as a Society we are asking the equivalent of a Fast Food Manager to make life and death decisions in a split second.  This is not to denigrate the police at all.  It is to point out how "under served" they are and how we expect a lot out of them, and those expectations do not match up with what we provide for them. 

That said, I am pointing out we need a higher "professionalization" of such an important job.  Teachers needs Masters and BA degrees.  Why do we expect so much less from Police?  Then, with this professionalization should then correspond to higher wages as post-cert work as well.   

[Disciple of Fate]

I think we agree in the big picture? Higher salaries should be possible for such a position, but not at current day standards.

[Haighus]

That is about the same as the base rate for a first year junior doctor in the UK.

[easye]

The UK and the US wages are VERY different thing for a lot of reasons that are way off topic for this thread. Suffice to say a UK wage and a US wage are like apples and pineapples.

[Haighus]

Aug 17, 2023 12:52:49 GMT -5 easye said:

The UK and the US wages are VERY different thing for a lot of reasons that are way off topic for this thread. Suffice to say a UK wage and a US wage are like apples and pineapples.

I'd be interested in reading about this in a dedicated thread.

[herzlos]

Aug 17, 2023 11:06:51 GMT -5 easye said:

Perhaps in relation to the education/training.... but that is another matter.

Most police officers probably can't even buy a home in the places they police on their own salaries. I usually see starting Cops at 40K with a lot of nights and weekends when you are starting.  The big "benefit" is they have a relatively early retirement and pension strategy compared to other workers.

Median salary in the US is about $54k which would put cops at pretty badly paid. Do you have the "Pay peanuts, get monkeys" saying?

Also, I'm not sure being unable to afford a home is unique to cops; I see a lot of stories about teachers (which should also be a respected middle class profession) having to work 2nd jobs.

I agree with the idea of paying cops a lot better, but requiring much higher standards for them at the same time.

[Haighus]

They could pay cops better, but then I suppose they would have to forgo a new armoured car or something.

[easye]

I looked on my phone, and all the headlines were about Trump today, so I decided to visit Fox News to see what was up there?

Hunter Biden special counsel to seek indictment on gun charges

www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-biden-special-counsel-seek-indictment

Hunter Biden is expected to be indicted on a federal gun charge by the end of September, Special Counsel David Weiss' team told U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika on Wednesday.

Noreika had set Wednesday as a deadline to hear from both sides about how to move forward on the diversion agreement that would have allowed Hunter Biden to avoid jail time for a felony charge of lying on a federal form when purchasing a firearm in 2018.

The expected charges come after an original plea agreement collapsed in July. Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty in July to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge.

I guess this is big news......

[easye]

Honestly surprised they are covering it as a headline at all!

Trump's Manhattan fraud trial enters day 3

www.foxnews.com/live-news/donald-trump-new-york-ag-letitia-james-civil-trial

Former President Donald Trump warned that cases like the civil fraud charges against him in New York City are a signal of "the beginning of communism" on Wednesday.

Trump made the comments outside the Manhattan courtroom where his civil trial entered its third day on Wednesday.Trump has accused New York Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron of political bias against him throughout the trial.

"If I had a jury, we’d win this case very easily, but I don’t have a jury. And you see, what’s happening. This is a railroading. And it’s the beginning of communism in our country. This is the beginning of communism," Trump said.

Trump blasted James earlier this week for centering her 2018 election campaign on a promise to "get Trump." She opened her investigation into the former president shortly after gaining office in 2019.

Trump has also called Engoron a "Democrat" and an "operative" due to his past campaign donations to the Democratic Party.

So much for that gag order.

Also, Fox does not mention that Trump's lawyers never requested a jury trial in the first place.

[skyth]

Technically attacking James or Engoron does not violate the gag order as it's not attacking the judge's staff.

[easye]

I guess the Judge himself is not covered by it then?