Raising the retirement age for police

The Massachusetts legislature is considering a bill to raise the retirement age for police and fire fighters. Law makers are looking to raise the required years of service from 20 to 25 years.

The obvious reason for this development is it delays paying out retirement benefits during a time period where most states are strapped for cash. At the same time, have the implications of forcing people to work longer at these physically demanding jobs been properly studied?

California state layoffs delayed

Looks like because a California state budget agreement was reached, the armada of pink slips has been delayed. Apparently about 20% of California state employees are going to be losing their jobs. People are dreading coming home to find a pink slip waiting for them in the mail.

Local governments already reducing the number of California police jobs. We'll see how police layoffs play out at the state level.

Increased competition for police jobs

The recession / depression is increasing competition for jobs across the board. Rising unemployment and underemployment combined with a few job vacancies means that lots of people are a applying for a dwindling number of jobs.

Though the number of police job vacancies are dwindling, the Greenville News is reporting that job applications are up 45% in 2008. The number of applicants with college degress and master degrees are also elevated.

180 job cuts for police and firefighters

The news out of Brockton today is grim. The local mayor James Harrington says the city is facing a $28 million budget short fall. To make up for the shortfall this city is considering laying off 180 policemen and firefighters.

Brockton police chief William Conlon explains:

"I would have to strip a number of divisions right down to bare bones -- detective division would probably just have a few detectives. We'd take officers out of the schools. We'd take officers away from traffic patrol..."

The alternative is for the city union to offer wage and benefit concessions. This is a tricky situation for unions - do they offer concessions that will hurt them in the long run in order to prevent short term acute pain?

Obama on how the stimulus helps police jobs

In President Obama's remarks yesterday, he discussed that not only is the stimulus aiming to create the 21st jobs of green tech and new technology, but also provide respite to embattled state budgets for essential services:

"They’ll be jobs creating 21st century classrooms, libraries, and labs for millions of children across America. And they’ll be the jobs of firefighters, teachers, and police officers that would otherwise be eliminated if we do not provide states with some relief."

Violence breaks out at a Tennesse jobs center

Seems like a scene out of Grapes of Wrath.

Police called to stop scuffle at Tenn. job center

House Versus Senate Stimulus Bill: Impact on police jobs

The primary different between the Senate Stimulus bill and the House Stimulus bill is the Senate bill is smaller and comprised mostly of tax cuts.

The house bill is more focused on providing states with the funds to meet their budget obligations. These budget obligations are what fund police jobs and other essential state employment services. If the Senate Bill passes not only will we be stuck with an non-nonsensically provision that promotes even more housing speculation, but fewer police employment opportunities.

400 new police jobs in New York City

All around the country, we're seeing pictures of people lining up at career fairs. Ones for public service positions like firefighters and police officers.

The New York times is reporting on the stimulus' impact on local police hiring. Tucked away in the article is the news that in New York city, the stimulus will result in 400 new police jobs.

Hiring freeze for law enforcement jobs

Looks like a lot of local police departments have a hiring freeze right now. They have available positions (and presumably an increased number of applicants) but are not able fill them.

There are a bunch of these reports across the country, but looks like the problem is acute for Virginia police.

$4 BN stimulus for local police jobs

Crime rates tend to go up with unemployment rates, so it's great news that the stimulus package will include $4 billion in aid for creating new local police jobs.

Great to see some specific information on how the stimulus package will affect police employment.

Do tax cuts for business help police and government employment?

Today's Wall Street Journal touches on an interesting point - do tax cuts for business result in more resources for public service jobs, police jobs, and other in fracture, or less?

State governments often give business large tax cuts or tax holidays to locate within their boundaries. Proponents of these cuts argue that these business bring workers who pay taxes and help finance government services.

Opponents of such tax cuts argue that instead these states are in a "race to the bottom". Each state competes against each other to the point where the value of the benefits given to the business exceeds the value of the jobs created.

This is of course an open question in employment economics. I think the answer is the tax cuts to attract businesses generally help create income for the state to finance police employment. However, states should be careful not to provide "corporate welfare" that actually reduces their current available budget for civic infrastructure and employment.