The average hourly rate of pay for a Police officer in Louisiana is $15.90 per hour.

J

jimintoronto

Well-known Member
Some law enforcement departments in that State pay as little as $12 per hour for armed Police officers. Here is a listing of the lowest and highest paying Law Enforcement jobs in Louisiana in 2024. Here in the Province of Ontario the minimum wage per hour is $17 an hour. Imagine what kind of applicants are willing to work for such low wages ? link. Police Officer Salaries in Louisiana - Zippia

Besides the low pay, some Law Enforcement departments in that State require applicants to buy their own uniforms and personal equipment out of their own pocket. I cannot imagine such a thing. The national average in Canada for a brand new Police officer who has just graduated from the Police College is $65,000 CDN which is about $49,000 USD per year, and no Canadian Police officer is ever going to be asked to buy their uniform or equipment, as it is all supplied to them for free here.

JimB.
 

I have heard that some small communities of less than 600 people that want police protection offer jobs at low prices. If no one takes those jobs, the state police or highway patrol will enforce the laws in those smaller communities. Even Deputy Sheriffs is some counties of some states make low wages, but more than $15.90 per hour. Police in those small communities rely on taxes from the people living there. The fewer the people, the lower the pay.

Most states pay their State Police and Troopers a significant amount more. My last 11 years, I made over 6 figures as a state trooper.
 

Most are bottom of the barrel now. When Bush Jr and the GOP Congress slashed federal funding to police departments (COPS), departments across the US lost veteran officers and those with young families and had to hire bottom feeders. Most never fully recovered from the budget crisis. Most officers now are GI Joe wannabes, were bullied in school, or browbeaten by their mom or wife. They get a gun and a badge and act like US Gestapo. There are good ones tucked in here and there, but the bad ones are predominant.
 
Don M. said:
I don't know where "Zippia" gets its numbers....but here is another site which gives far different numbers. According to this site, the average police salary in Louisiana is about $59K per year.

Police Officer Salary by State 2024
Here's another.....

Here’s How Much Money Police Officers Earn In Every State
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In Alabama, pay is based on the level of education. Nothing other than a high school diploma is going to be low. Alabama is $17,000 below the national average.
 
Have you ever dealt with the "public"????? On TV, we are into season 2 of people, who get arrested for crimes, while they are totally naked.
Cops should be highly paid, just for putting up with the idiocy of the rest of us.
Most police start out as OJTs (On The Job Training), which may account for the low initial salaries?
 
Think most northern states in the U.S. ding around $65,000 starting pay after being paid to go to the Academy.
Peak pay is in the low 6 figures. Big Cities are the highest pay rates.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Have you ever dealt with the "public"????? On TV, we are into season 2 of people, who get arrested for crimes, while they are totally naked.
Cops should be highly paid, just for putting up with the idiocy of the rest of us.
Most police start out as OJTs (On The Job Training), which may account for the low initial salaries?
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In your State, there are minimum training standards that ALL Police services in PA must conform to. The process is this....An applicant is interviewed and found to be acceptable. The hiring Police department sends the applicant to a PA State approved Police Academy. The trainee lives at the Academy for the required period of their training, and IF THEY GRADUATE, they are hired by the department.

For at least the first few months of the trainee's daily shifts they will work WITH a coach officer, who is their direct mentor and work partner. The coach officer teaches the newby the "street smart stuff " that the Academy didn't cover, like the geography of the patrol area, the most frequently committed crimes and how to write reports correctly. The coach officer writes weekly reports about the new officer's conduct, mistakes and progress to the watch supervisor. It is a break in period of time.

Here is a link that explains what the PA Police training programs are about. link. Basic Police Officer Training

So, yes, there is some "on the job training " but the foundations of learning occur at the Academy before the officer is even sworn in. Most municipal Police in your State are required to undergo annual educational up grading courses, and if they want to be promotable within their department, they will take further formal educational courses from Colleges or Universities, that directly relate to Police work. The single most important skill that prospective Police applicants should have in 2024 is computer knowledge and how to apply it at the day to day level on the job. JimB.
 
papa tiger said:
Think most northern states in the U.S. ding around $65,000 starting pay after being paid to go to the Academy.
Peak pay is in the low 6 figures. Big Cities are the highest pay rates.
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The three highest paid US states for starting Police pay rates are Hawaii, then Alaska, then California. In Alaska, some of the most isolated towns have officers who fly in to town, work 14 days straight. then fly back to their home in the lower 48 States. These are places with a population of less than 800 people, so the people being arrested are well known to Police there.

Here is a link to the hiring page for the Hawaii Police agency. The STARTING annual salary as of 2022 is $72 thousand dollars a year, with over time pay at time and a half of the hourly rate. LINK> Police Officers

Jimb.
 
Sarci said:
Most are bottom of the barrel now. When Bush Jr and the GOP Congress slashed federal funding to police departments (COPS), departments across the US lost veteran officers and those with young families and had to hire bottom feeders. Most never fully recovered from the budget crisis. Most officers now are GI Joe wannabes, were bullied in school, or browbeaten by their mom or wife. They get a gun and a badge and act like US Gestapo. There are good ones tucked in here and there, but the bad ones are predominant
Click to expand...
 
There are over 900,000 Police officers in your country, and they work for over 18,000 different Police agencies. Your broad brush comments are not helpful. There is no other job in the USA that has so many levels of oversight, and legal control than being a Police officer.

Please tell this group how, in YOUR opinion, how YOU would improve the standards of education and individual on the job performance of the average American Police officer. Yes, I am asking YOU to make actual suggestions that would improve things. Instead of carping, make real suggestions and do it here .

I await your reply.
 
Purwell said:
I'm not sure how much $15.90 is in sterling but even at level £/$ it would be lower than most wages in UK.
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At todays rate of exchange, $16 USD converts to 8 pounds sterling. So, what sort of UK job pays 8 pounds an hour ? McDonalds counter staff or a Pound store cashier ? You tell me ? JimB
 
jimintoronto said:
There are over 900,000 Police officers in your country, and they work for over 18,000 different Police agencies. Your broad brush comments are not helpful. There is no other job in the USA that has so many levels of oversight, and legal control than being a Police officer.

Please tell this group how, in YOUR opinion, how YOU would improve the standards of education and individual on the job performance of the average American Police officer. Yes, I am asking YOU to make actual suggestions that would improve things. Instead of carping, make real suggestions and do it here .

I await your reply.
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If you are talking to me, first--I have an associate's in criminal justice and a bachelor's in political science with a focus on public administration. My dad was career MP, one of my brothers is a retired dispatcher, one of his son’s is a cop, and I had a cousin who was a cop. There were bottom feeders in class bragging about using judo to make people confess and how they, and I say they, pull people over for driving too slow because that means they have something to hide. Those of us who are not mental midgets know those people were talking [beep], but those twits would have a badge and gun and made good future officers cringe at the thought of being partnered with an armed Neanderthal.
 
jimintoronto said:
There are over 900,000 Police officers in your country, and they work for over 18,000 different Police agencies. Your broad brush comments are not helpful. There is no other job in the USA that has so many levels of oversight, and legal control than being a Police officer.

Please tell this group how, in YOUR opinion, how YOU would improve the standards of education and individual on the job performance of the average American Police officer. Yes, I am asking YOU to make actual suggestions that would improve things. Instead of carping, make real suggestions and do it here .

I await your reply.
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The US standard was a 2-3 month psyche evaluation for all cadets to make sure they were mentally capable of performing the job to the highest standards. After states lost the bulk of federal funding, those evaluations were knocked down to a meeting. "A" meeting. A cadet does not need a college degree but simply have an ACTS WorkKeys—you know, reading comprehension, math—the same test employers give to make sure the person they are hiring to stock shelves can read English and understand it. If you Google around a bit, yes, I am doing your homework because you should have done this before getting all man angst, you would have seen that across the US, formal college education in criminal justice is not required, but encouraged.
 
jimintoronto said:
There are over 900,000 Police officers in your country, and they work for over 18,000 different Police agencies. Your broad brush comments are not helpful. There is no other job in the USA that has so many levels of oversight, and legal control than being a Police officer.

Please tell this group how, in YOUR opinion, how YOU would improve the standards of education and individual on the job performance of the average American Police officer. Yes, I am asking YOU to make actual suggestions that would improve things. Instead of carping, make real suggestions and do it here .

I await your reply.
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When cops get busted for sexual assault, domestic abuse, corruption, even manslaughter, the majority are allowed to simply transfer out. Unless the accuser presses formal charges and the officer is found guilty and sentenced, that officer is free to simply move and apply to a police department elsewhere. Okay, MY opinion—pay attention now. You can do it! Oorah!

All officers should be required to attain an associate’s in criminal justice. All officers should be mentally assessed for at least 2 months. Any cop who turns off his/her uniform cam should be placed under investigation and penalized without pay. All officers who are brought up on charges and found guilty should have a permanent record of dishonorable discharge and not be allowed to work anywhere else as a cop.
 
jimintoronto said:
There are over 900,000 Police officers in your country, and they work for over 18,000 different Police agencies. Your broad brush comments are not helpful. There is no other job in the USA that has so many levels of oversight, and legal control than being a Police officer.

Please tell this group how, in YOUR opinion, how YOU would improve the standards of education and individual on the job performance of the average American Police officer. Yes, I am asking YOU to make actual suggestions that would improve things. Instead of carping, make real suggestions and do it here .

I await your reply.
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The norm is roughly $350 per capita coming from local and state governments. But some cities cannot afford a cop at all. State funding goes more toward state police (troopers) than local police departments. Cities who do not tax have no revenue to pay officers. Cities without cops rely on sheriff departments, meaning deputies become stretched. Sheriff departments are funded by taxes, but many rely heavily on seized assets. The COPS program only supplies about $30 per capita, which is squat, but every penny counts. Cities or states where officers earned $50,000 grand—look at the cost of living. A cop in NY is going to make at least $20,000 more than a cop in Montgomery, AL because it costs more to live there.
 
jimintoronto said:
There are over 900,000 Police officers in your country, and they work for over 18,000 different Police agencies. Your broad brush comments are not helpful. There is no other job in the USA that has so many levels of oversight, and legal control than being a Police officer.

Please tell this group how, in YOUR opinion, how YOU would improve the standards of education and individual on the job performance of the average American Police officer. Yes, I am asking YOU to make actual suggestions that would improve things. Instead of carping, make real suggestions and do it here .

I await your reply.
Click to expand...
Don’t you ever speak to me like you did in your post again. I don’t know who you think you are, but I can honestly say you are NOT “it.” In fact, never respond to me, ever…E.V.E.R. There is no excuse for blatant rudeness. You are NOT a keyboard warrior.
 
jimintoronto said:
The three highest paid US states for starting Police pay rates are Hawaii, then Alaska, then California. In Alaska, some of the most isolated towns have officers who fly in to town, work 14 days straight. then fly back to their home in the lower 48 States. These are places with a population of less than 800 people, so the people being arrested are well known to Police there.

Here is a link to the hiring page for the Hawaii Police agency. The STARTING annual salary as of 2022 is $72 thousand dollars a year, with over time pay at time and a half of the hourly rate. LINK> Police Officers

Jimb.
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That's total B.S. They live in the $300,000 homes and their wives also hold good paying jobs. Drive new Jeeps and live ok. They live within a mile of me. UR are full of Crap. Police in Big cities make well over $100.000

I know the small towns hire Constables to patrol a bit in the weekend evenings. Very little to worry about except road accidents. The
top states of people count pay the young applicants $3000+ a month to go to the academy and starting pay is in the Mid $60's and a successful career leads to +$100,000 a year pay. They live well and they sacrifice, same as all of us.

You really need to stop watching your Conspiracy videos playing 24 / 7's and get a life. Do something about your $8 a gallon gas instead.
 
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Sarci said:
Don’t you ever speak to me like you did in your post again. I don’t know who you think you are, but I can honestly say you are NOT “it.” In fact, never respond to me, ever…E.V.E.R. There is no excuse for blatant rudeness. You are NOT a keyboard warrior.
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Good Morning Sarci. I see that you wrote 4 replies to my post, BUT you don't want to ever hear from me, again. Sorry that is not how it works here. I am exercising my right to free expression under the US Constitution. Your numerous family members who are/were Police officers would be proud of your staunch support. JimB.
 
papa tiger said:
That's total B.S. They live in the $300,000 homes and their wives also hold good paying jobs. Drive new Jeeps and live ok. They live within a mile of me. UR are full of Crap. Police in Big cities make well over $100.000

I know the small towns hire Constables to patrol a bit in the weekend evenings. Very little to worry about except road accidents. The
top states of people count pay the young applicants $3000+ a month to go to the academy and starting pay is in the Mid $60's and a successful career leads to +$100,000 a year pay. They live well and they sacrifice, same as all of us.

You really need to stop watching your Conspiracy videos playing 24 / 7's and get a life. Do something about your $8 a gallon gas instead.
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I have to laugh when you write about "cops living in three hundred thousand dollar homes " Where I live you couldn't buy a dog house for 300K. The cost of gas in Canada relates to this topic HOW? Thanks for the laugh. JimB.
 

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