Police Officers; the Best and Worst States to Be One 2019

There are more than 900,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the United States, which is the highest figure ever and 12 percent are women. New York City Police Department has lost more officers in the line of duty than any other department, with 899 deaths. Texas has lost 1,751 officers, more than any other state.

The median annual wage for police and detectives was $63,380 in May 2018. The continued need for public safety is expected to lead to new openings for officers, although demand may vary by location. Police and sheriff's patrol officers and transit and railroad police have some of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses of all occupations. Working around the clock in shifts is common.

More than 7 in 10 say officers have become more timid about stopping to question suspicious people, roughly three-quarters say fellow officers report they are more reluctant to use force when necessary, and more than 9 in 10 say fellow officers have grown more worried about their safety, according to a Pew Research Center poll.

With National Police Week kicking off on May 12, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2019’s Best & Worst States to Be a Police Officer

In order to determine the best states to pursue a career in law enforcement, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 27 key indicators of police-friendliness. The data set ranges from median income for law-enforcement officers to police deaths per 1,000 officers to state and local police-protection expenses per capita.

• The District of Columbia has the most police and sheriff’s patrol officers per 100,000 residents, 810.54, which is 6.1 times more than in Oregon, the fewest at 133.91.
• Illinois has the highest median annual wage for police and sheriff’s patrol officers (adjusted for cost of living), $76,264, which is 1.9 times higher than in Mississippi, the lowest at $40,719.
• Rhode Island has the fewest individuals killed by police per 1,000,000 residents, 5.68, which is 10.6 times fewer than in New Mexico, the most at 59.96.
• Maine has the fewest violent crimes per 1,000 residents, 1.21, which is 8.3 times fewer than in the District of Columbia, the most at 10.05.
• The District of Columbia has the highest state and local police-protection expenses per capita, $882.44, which is 5.5 times higher than in Kentucky, the lowest at $160.82.

Expert Commentary

What are the biggest issues facing police officers today?

“A major issue facing law enforcement today has actually been a problem all along, but has only recently become recognized – the prevalence of false confessions,” said Allan Hirsh, PhD, Williams College. Notorious crimes have always prompted glory seekers, often suffering from some psychological malady, to come forward and take “credit.” When the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped, for example, more than 200 people volunteered that they were the culprit.

“The larger problem is false confessions procured by law enforcement during interrogations. The problem lies in how officers are trained to interrogate. In a nutshell, the most widely taught and utilized interrogation method is too effective: It breaks down the guilty, but also too many innocent. Hundreds of proven false confessions have been identified, and experts in this field are nearly unanimous that these cases amount to the mere tip of an iceberg.”

“Many states and municipalities now require or at least encourage the video-recording of interrogations. This positive step curbs interrogative abuses and puts judges and juries in a better position to evaluate confessions. But that isn’t enough. Law enforcement leaders should acknowledge that the so-called Reid Method of interrogation contributes to false confessions and thus ought to be replaced by less risky methods of interrogation.”

“Police officers face many issues today; in many cases the issues are highly context dependent,” said Dennis Mares, PhD, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. “Some agencies, particularly in cash-strapped municipalities, struggle with maintaining basic police operations. Other agencies face demographic changes in the people they police; an aging population, greater racial and ethnic diversity. In general policing has become more complex as society grows more complex. Whereas crime certainly remains at relatively low levels, it remains persistently high in some communities; by contrast new crimes are emerging (cyber crime) and often local police are ill-equipped and trained to contend with them. In many cases the problems stem from the localized manner in which we do policing in the US. In many other countries police agencies are centrally organized, in the US most agencies are locally organized and funded. This means that pay, training, and oversight varies a lot. While I understand that people like the idea of ‘local control’, it does not provide the most efficient policing force as those communities that needs policing resources the most (i.e. impoverished communities with high crime rates) have the least financial capacity to provide these services. By contrast, well-funded community.”

To view the full report and your state or the District’s rank, please visit:

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-to-be-a-cop/34669/

Courtesy: WalletHub