In 2015, five San Jose police officers each made more than $400,000.
A payroll error? In fact, they earned every penny by the book.
Hefty compensation, it turns out — including regular pay, overtime and benefits — is not unusual for public safety employees in California.
“It is routine now for firefighters to be up over $200,000, $300,000,” said Mark Bucher, chief executive officer of the California Policy Center, a public policy think tank. “Look at just about any city and you’ll see the same thing.”
Take, for example, the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District, which covers a portion of southern Contra Costa County.
More than half of the district’s roughly 150 full-time workers — among them battalion chiefs, captains and firefighter paramedics — earned more than $300,000 in total compensation in 2015, according to data collected by Transparent California, a nonprofit watchdog.
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Pensions guaranteed to California police and fire personnel allow them to retire in their 50s and draw 70 percent or more of their peak pay as long as they live. Most private sector employees have no pensions.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/u...=top-news&_r=0