for a job that requires a high school diploma and nothing more other then being a thug and knowing how to use a gun being a cop pays very well. in the phoenix area most cops start making around $20 an hour or $40,000 a year. kids who just get out of college with an engineering degree make start out making about $25 an hour or $50K a year. Thats only 5 bucks more than a cop. one other perk of being a cop is you can goof off as much as you want and its almost impossible to get fired. this cop perk would get any entry level engineer fired. lets take a look at this glendale cop. Original Article Glendale police officer suspended for late reports Brent Whiting The Arizona Republic May. 6, 2006 12:00 AM GLENDALE - A Glendale police officer has been slapped with an 80-hour suspension without pay for ignoring deadlines to complete daily crime reports. It's the latest paperwork scandal to rock the Glendale force since a detective was fired last year for failing to complete reports in 242 domestic-violence cases. Enough is enough, said Police Chief Steve Conrad, who took command Dec. 28 after his predecessor, Andrew Kirkland, resigned amid allegations of impropriety. Conrad said he was inclined, at first, to fire Officer Scott Blake, a 10-year veteran, over his repeated failure to complete reports on time but finally concluded that something less severe would suffice. "I just felt that this was an employee who could be saved," Conrad said. Supervisors have since determined there were no serious consequences, such as criminals going free, because of Blake's failings, Conrad said. But he added that issues with Blake and similar but yet-to-be resolved problems with another officer, John Contreras, persuaded him to impose a new policy on filing reports. Now, officers must complete all reports upon the completion of a shift and before going home, Conrad said. Previously, Glendale officers were required to file reports for "critical" cases, such as felony arrests, domestic violence and stolen vehicles, by the end of a shift. For other matters, they could wait as long as three days after the end of a shift. Conrad said that since last month, all reports must be completed before a shift ends, an order that caused some groaning at first but is working out fine. "I think what we had before was essentially a system that was inviting failure," Conrad said. "A lot can happen in the three days that was allowed for delay." In addition, he said, Glendale residents deserve a higher level of service, including the expectation that reports will be filed after information is offered. A year ago, Brad Moore, a Glendale detective, was fired for dropping the ball in at least 242 domestic-violence cases. Officials said Moore filed reports falsely claiming work had been done, but 158 of those cases had to be scrapped because the one-year statute of limitations had expired. After the Moore scandal, problems surfaced involving two other Glendale detectives who managed to retain their jobs. One of them, Jeff Horsley, was accused of failing to do a proper investigation in 59 sexual-assault cases and destroying at least 30 videotapes in some of those cases. The other, Kristian Grube, was accused of not doing work on at least 174 domestic-violence cases that were assigned to him. Conrad said that issues with Blake should have been resolved before he took command last year, but disciplinary action was never taken.