But I suspect it is a much less desired job in the US. And because of that the people who are drawn to it tend to be drawn to the negative aspects of it.
You’ll have to pay a lot more to get a different class of people.
You’ll have to pay a lot more to get a different class of people.
Cops in my state have higher salaries, better benefits and better retirement options than software engineers do.
Pay isn't the problem with police recruitment funnels or policing in general.
Plenty of people do currently join the police in the USA with good intentions, but plenty more would never join at any price. The toxicity of police culture is enough of an offset that basically no salary would cover it for a growing fraction of Americans.
You want more and better cops? Make policing less toxic, then people might actually rebuild some respect for police in general.
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=Police&...
https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/your-sfpd/careers/sworn-j...
Per this post, spending on police has increased faster than population in Vallejo specifically: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/84950dbe341d4d59ac3d6ef...
https://www.ppic.org/blog/how-much-do-california-cities-spen...
It's not clear to me, from the last 30 years of engorged police funding, that we can pay our way out of this one. Focusing on why it attracts people who are drawn to the negative aspects, for example, as you said.