I had the opportunity this past Wednesday afternoon to just sit down and shoot the breeze over coffee with a local politically-involved friend; it’s a pasttime I don’t get much of in these fine days of clinical rotations. At any rate, this friend has done some work with the Braddock municipal government, and passed on a scary tidbit of knowledge. (Note: not personally verified; take with grain of salt.) The entry-level wage for a Braddock police officer is, allegedly, $7.50 per hour. The wage for an experienced officer is $10 per hour.

Now. We can argue about overtime, benefits, low cost of living in the area, etc., but the fact of the matter is that we’re talking about $10/hour for a job where you A) need to get and maintain specialized training and B) are 100% guaranteed to get your ass shot at. This is, for comparison, about what one could make as a retail store clerk or a pizza delivery dude. Is it any wonder that it’s hard to get adequate policing going in the Mon Valley communities?

Now, consolidating some of those municipalities and maybe even merging them into the county or the city could provide the money they need to get adequately-paid police in sufficient numbers. That money, of course, would be coming from the tax dollars paid by those of us living in somewhat more gentrified neighborhoods. Before you spill your latte in horror, take a moment to remember that there are these things called “cars”. I see patients from our outlying economically depressed communities every day in my Shadyside clinic. If they think it’s worthwhile to drive in for medical care, you can bet that others in those same neighborhoods are perfectly happy to drive on in for some theft, violence, drug dealing, and general unsociability.

It’s not just the City of Pittsburgh that’s being hurt by the short-sightedness of a few affluent suburban communities. It’s municipalities throughout Allegheny County, and we’re all paying the price.

Related posts:

1. Wage Tax Anniversary
2. A modest proposal
3. How Much Is The Right To Blackmail And Steal Worth??
4. Baby steps to government consolidation.
5. Danger salad