Being a cop is supposed to be lucrative: big-city officers often pull down six figures and get to do whatever they want. Not in Goodhue, Minnesota, though, where there are only a few hunded locals, no highways to loot, and the starting pay is $22 an hour. The entire department quit this week, reports the Associated Press, in hopes of squeezing more out the city when it is somehow compelled to rehire them.
Police Chief Josh Smith submitted his resignation at a City Council meeting last Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. A full-time officer and five part-time employees resigned two days after having learned about Smith.
"So right now with our current — trying to hire at $22 an hour, you're never going to see another person again walk through those doors. That's it," Smith said. "Unless you guys do a dramatic change."
Smith stressed the urgency of the matter and said smaller police departments he has looked into pay at least $30 an hour.
Exactly twice the minimum wage that the usual suspects insist would bankrupt the nation.
According to public records sites, Goodhue has a crime reported about once a week. In addition to its seven cops, there is a county Sheriff with about 100 deputies, less than 20 minutes up the road.
