Do We Really Care if Cops have College Degrees?

I read so many things today I can’t think of where to begin. The Recorder had a story about how some police unions are suing a local town over Quinn Bill benefits. This law provides steep raises for any cops who take on-line or other dubiously challenging college courses. It’s always been a political football, and the unions are tough on any governor or other politician who tries to challenge it.

Well, the state called the union’s bluff by refusing to pay its 50% share of the Quinn Bill raises. So now we have the cops suing Sunderland, saying that the town should fork over the state’s share, even though the town never agreed to that. Quinn bill raises can boost pay $10 or 20K more a year, and of course, this all makes their lifetime pensions even more expensive.

I don’t think the public is any safer knowing that the patrolman in the car that just pulled you over has a BA or an MA. But it sure is a good way to raise pay…just like having the $50 per hour roadwork jobs, but what I’ve always wondered is, who pays for all that gas that gets burned while the cruisers sit on 91?

Another story that caught my eye was about GM deciding to push their Chicago plant to 24-hour production. Few auto manufacturers run three shifts, and with all of the downsizing, it seems strange. But GM says that its Buick Lacrosse and Chevy Malibu are selling so well they have to. Still, you wonder when they’ll do maintenance and other tasks if they are running their production lines nonstop.