So Fatty and Bill do you think that by paying LE what it is worth you are not going to attract a better quality of individual to the job, or even get more candidates that will allow you to better weed out the undesirable candidates that are now, all too often getting hired?
I worked for Fairfield to start my fire service career. 2nd lowest paying at that time. Dead last now. I'd take the quality of the firefighters there over many I worked with at higher paying departments.
I retired from a higher paid department after transferring. There were a lot of good ones there. There were a bunch of crappy ones too. I watched more lose their jobs at that department than at the other.
So no, money doesn't guarantee quality. Never has, Never will. It doesn't weed out the undesirables. The officers and fellow firefighters / police officers did.
Policing is no different than fire in regard to pay. Police does attract a different personality and without proper oversight, you get the situation from the OP.
There is NO EXCUSE for this situation. Money didn't cause it. Money won't fix it.
I always like to offer solutions. I'm a solutions oriented person. It doesn't always make friends, but it is what it is. I honestly don't know what the solution is here. But I do know money won't fix it.
