Illinois police are highest paid, last in solving homicides

Police car
A new ranking of states attractiveness to be a policeman shows Illinois pays well to wear the badge. (Photo courtesy Facebook/Illinois Department of Transportation)

By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – In a ranking of the best states to be in law enforcement, Illinois is near the top.

Monday is national Peace Officers Memorial Day. In honor of the occasion, financial site WalletHub has a ranking for the best states to wear the badge. Illinois ranked fourth overall, getting high marks for for how many officers are on the job and the nation’s highest average pay.

WalletHub Analyst Jill Gonzalez says the average $77,000 annual wage pushed Illinois up the rankings.

“When it comes to pay, when it comes to pensions, when it comes to benefits, Illinois really does set their police officers up for success,” she said.

But Professor Bill Sousa, director of the Center for Crime and Justice Policy at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, said the high pay has led to many municipalities being overburdened with expensive police pension funds.

“You have a number of places around the country struggling to pay pensions while also paying high salaries to current police officers,” he said. “Illinois’ high pay could make that worse there.”

One thing that Illinois didn’t look so good on was the percentage of solved homicide cases, only one percent of which have been resolved, 51st in the country (including Washington D.C.). Sousa said departments may be shifting more resources into prevention, rather than reaction.

“Sometimes the investigative side can suffer if agencies proactively shift resources to more preventative patrol activities,” he said.

As far as public opinion, Illinois law enforcement receive more criticism than average on social media. WalletHub also ranked states on killings by police per capita. Illinois was 14th.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…