Police officers are the protectors of a city. Any crime, be it major or even a minor one, is handled by them. They are summoned whether it’s a case of petty mugging, or whether it’s a case of a huge burglary with casualties. Police officers risk their lives every day trying to make ours easier. Apart from solving crimes, police officers are also tasked with proper surveillance and protection of eminent personalities when they decide to visit any place. Let us see about the salaries of Police officer.
Salaries For Police Officer
The salaries of a police officer depends on a lot of factors. Rank and experience are the two most deterministic factors of their salaries. The higher the rank, the more money a policeman earns. The same goes for experience as well. In a way, experience and rank go hand in hand. There are other factors as well. The type of job a police officer does determines their salary as well. Also, their salaries vary across the states. They earn around $73660 in Nevada to around $105000 in California. Figures in between these two extremes are found in different states.
A subdivision can be chalked out based on the type of job a police officer does and their salaries:
Municipal uniformed police
These police officers are the most common type of policepersons. They are responsible for maintaining law and order at the municipal level. They are responsible for controlling traffic distress, attending to disturbances ad hoc, looking into matters of crime, etc. In any big event, crowd management is a big factor and municipal uniformed police are required to see after that as well. To get into this career, a high school degree is needed as the bare minimum. Some cases, however, require a diploma. This diploma can be earned from a criminal justice school where experience police officers themselves are the teachers.
Municipal uniformed police officers make around $55810 per year.
Detectives
Detectives are tasked with the sole purpose of solving crimes. Be it a felony, murder, theft, or even an attempt at a crime, detectives are responsible for finding out clues to solve it. Depending on the task at hand, detectives can work in uniforms or in plain clothes. A major part of their job is interrogating witnesses. This requires special oratory and convincing skills which a detective learns with experience. Being a detective hence is no small feat. The prerequisite to being a police detective is that a person has to have experience as police officer first. Some institutes even require some special training on top of that for a person to have a career as a detective.
The average salary of a detective is pretty high. In states such as Alaska and In California, the salary is more than $105000. In the lower end of the spectrum lies states such as Delaware, Oregon, Washington, etc. Even there, the salaries are more than $92000.
Sheriffs
Sheriffs are elected into their place. Their job is the same as a police chief. However, they operate at the county level. This job is bigger than a police officer posted in a town or city. That is because a county includes a lot of towns and or cities. A sheriff is responsible for supervising the action of every police officer of every town present in his county. As can be understood, being a sheriff requires a lot of experience. A person has to have experience as a uniformed police officer before earning the right to be elected into a sheriff’s position.
With great experience such as a sheriff comes with a luxurious salary. The base salary of a sheriff is around a national average of $114339. The salary can go up to an excess of $120000 as well.
State troopers
These police officers are mainly responsible for maintaining safety on highway roads. They are also referred to as state police. Apart from highway duty, state troopers also work with the local police officials. They assist them in solving crimes and also facilitate the smooth going of an investigation.
There is a huge disparity between the lowest-earning state troopers and the highest-earning ones. The lowest earners earn only around $12000 per year. This is mostly because of a lack of experience. The highest 86% of earners earn a whopping $312000 per year. The median salary of a state trooper, however, is around $57000 per year. A person can expect to earn this kind of money should they decide to opt for this career.
Federal investigator
This job is very prestigious and the famed FBI forms only a certain section of federal investigators. These people are tasked to protect the law on a federal level. To be eligible for becoming a federal investigator, a person has to have certain educational degrees to his name. There are several branches of the federal investigator. Some of them are: – the FBI, DEA, ATF, S. Secret service, etc.
The salary of a federal investigator is around a national average of $66000. Federal investigators with around 10 to 19 years of experience earn around $76942. With an even higher experience of 20 years or more, employees earn more than $100000 per year.
Special jurisdiction
These police officers tend to only specific problems. The municipal police officer are not authorized to handle these kinds of problems. That is because these require specialized training. Special jurisdiction officers provide security to college campuses, maintain harmony in local and district parks, etc. The way of becoming a special jurisdiction officer is very similar to that of a municipal officer. One has to obtain a college degree for smooth enrolment as a special jurisdiction officer. A degree in criminal justice is especially helpful in these cases.
A special jurisdiction police officer can earn around $57000 per year. With increasing experience and rank, this salary can touch an excess of $100000, around $107000.
Conclusion
Being a police officer means risking one’s life to protect others in a lot of cases. One of the noblest professions around, the police officer gets handsomely rewarded monetarily for his\her efforts. The national average salary of $55000 for a police officer speaks for itself.
