Why do people become cops?

[RandySF]

2. Well

For many years it was the best job that many working class kids could find after finishing school. Back in Detroit, if one had a friend or relative on the force, they should get some help getting their foot in the door. Whether it's a good job or not can largely depend on where you are. I once looked over the police contracts in suburban Detroit and, while the hourly rate may not be great at first, there are a lot of benefits:

-Overtime
-Shift Premium
-Holiday Pay
-Court Pay
-Gun maintenance allowance
-Uniform Allowance
-Health and other associated insurance
-Five day weekends to accommodate shift changes
-In some jurisdictions, a fitness bonus of you can accomplish a certain number of routines such as push-ups in a fixed amount of time.

Many states have good pension systems as well. If you can rise through the ranks nd make Lt., the pay can be quite lucrative.

Like I said, most of my expereinces are based in the suburbs, but for the most part, the people I knew who joined the force did so with good intentions, but mostly because it's a good living.