Police Pensions: I Can't Get That Worked Up

Mr. Stamford posted a rather nasty rant condemning local retired police who want an increase in their pension. His reasoning went something like “I pay taxes, I don’t get a pension, you should have saved money like I’m doing, suck it up and stop complaining.” It’s not just him. Many commenters on the Advocate article about the issue expressed similar contempt.

My initial reaction: I don’t like living in an area where people feel so overworked, stressed and tight on money that they have to blast other people who ask for help.

However, I don’t think the majority of people feel so bitter toward others. Most people I know in this area are generous and sympathetic despite the stress of living in an expensive area. I think it’s just that the vocal people on the internet tend to be negative.

I try to avoid getting sucked into angry internet complaining, but I did want to make the point that we do need civil servants like police and teachers. We need to offer good benefits because that is what attracts the kind of stable people we want in those jobs. I want my children to have experienced teachers, and I want well-compensated policemen to patrol my community. I’m not sure why those people are perceived as lazy suckers of taxpayers’ money.

One big focus of the complainers was that police can retire after 20 years. People were just so pissed off about that. I don’t want to work for 30-35 years, either, but I can certainly see why police work is stressful enough for 20 years to be enough of a career. I think 20 years is early retirement, anyway, and they don’t get a full pension for that, so I’m not sure what all the beeyotching is about.

It’s not outrageous for police to ask for help with their pension. Or… am I just young, and when I hit 40, I’ll get bitter about taxes, too? Or… is it because I don’t own a home yet, so I don’t experience the horror of real estate taxes? If this is what real estate taxes do to people, I’m gonna keep renting.