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California Cop Makes Nearly $500,000

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    Frontline Strategies Mark Standriff on salaries for the California Highway Patrol.

  • Duration 4:36
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California Highway Patrol division chief Jeff -- he retired last year making nearly a half million dollars in salary pension and other compensation.

This made him the best paid a police officer in the twelve most populous states in the country.

Tell what collected more than a quarter million dollars unused sick and vacation time.

He now receives an annual pension more than a 170000.

Dollars -- yeah.

Joining us now is -- -- from front and strategies by mark this is one office.

But it's an example of how the formerly Golden State you know you cannot afford this Kenya.

No no not at all.

And especially when you look at just in the Highway Patrol alone you've got 44 officers that are making over 200000 dollars a year that's more than five times the rest of the country combined from that statistic.

5000 that are making more than a hundred K.

And and that's just the tip of the iceberg if you really want to make the big money that you go to California's prisons where we got people that.

-- are sitting on accumulated time where we had a woman who retired at the age of 79 with the 707000.

Dollar pay out.

And 72 weeks of accumulated vacation time.

Now unbelievable that's a pension explosion.

That's going to happen because California has not dealt with its public employee pensions has it.

Well they've done a little bit for the new employees Jerry Brown our governor had at least made some small steps forward there but.

Those are effects that are not gonna be seen in for the next fifteen or twenty years meanwhile you're not only had the accumulated vacation time you've got sick time.

You've got to pension benefits for many folks that'll end up being literally hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Repeat that statistic please who did you say 5000.

Police offices make -- ground all mall.

Is that that's what you sent 5000 yes that that's that these are Highway Patrol officers here in in California but -- that this is -- But but that's gonna be used as the baseline for pensions that will be paid in the future.

But you'll know that astronaut -- lot.

That the baseline is being used based on their accumulated pay.

Plus -- annual last salary.

So you know that that's where a lot of these figures gets jacked up this goes back to 1999.

When Gray Davis in the midst of midst of a very contentious budget negotiations.

With California's public union said okay I'm gonna give you rub pension benefits retroactive for all present.

And past employees and then of course you had cities and counties who followed suit and that's what places like -- -- -- and -- and at -- Dean -- are filing for bankruptcy because they realize that.

They're they're retirement obligations are gonna be at least 10% of their budget and more for the coming you know I put it to everybody around this table of it that it is very difficult to get out of this because that is a promise made we promised you police officers prison guards.

And what else we promised you this -- single contract we made a promise.

In some stages in the in this state -- of the united constitution but we made a promise how do you get out of a promise like -- -- -- asset.

President Obama that when he was dealing with the GM bondholders remember those promises that were made to the GM.

Bondholders -- secured bondholders that where they rescinded they are deals in order to -- ahead with the bailout of the auto companies so it has.

It has happened -- before but I would say it's it's gotta be focused.

On the contracts being made now for future contracts.

-- California's gonna have to eat a lot of these bad country what as -- and let's bring right to bring back to mark.

Mocked as they -- these contracts and David's right they gotta pay him.

That means you can make it costs too young -- -- force members -- going to be out.

And the service is delivered to the public are also going to be -- to the vote because you've got to keep paying your retirees.

Well and of course it affects education because -- you know we have you know 40% of our state budget has -- -- To education we have essential services that obviously gonna be cut because of these pension obligations and the interesting thing about all these promises Stewart -- it back in 1999 calpers.

Which is our enormous state pension plan system here.

Convince the legislature that this deal was gonna be good when because they actually predicted that that back then that by the year 2009 the Dow would hit 25000.

And even better than that Stewart that they predicted with their model that by the year 2099 the -- -- -- 28 million that's 28.

Million.

That's that's were all these pie in the sky promises come from -- and unfortunately the taxpayers.

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