Isn’t there something truly unsettling about the idea that police officers are cheating the system?
In November, the New Orleans Police Department suspended 26 officers from off-duty security work. An investigation continues into some NOPD officers “double-dipping” by getting paid for doing security work while they were being paid for their regular shift.
The beginning salary of a police officer in New Orleans is $40,391.00. With a bachelor’s degree the starting salary rises to $56,566.00 annually. But many NOPD officers earn deep into 6-figure salaries with detail work. Being a police officer in New Orleans is dangerous, but it can be very lucrative.
The NOPD payroll system and the Office of Police Secondary Employment scheduling system appear to have worked out a plan to cross-reference information so that police officers can no longer cheat the system.
There should be no opposition to police officers earing as much money as they can, but police officers are human and some are not honest.
Whether it’s fair or not - it is alarming that some officers who are sworn to fine or arrest citizens that refuse to follow the rules of society are failing to follow the rules of their employment.
The bigger question is - would you cheat your employer out of money if you had the chance? Or, is there something innately honest about some people?
