Texas Named 8th Best State To Be A Police Officer By Report

National Police Week starts on May 13th and to celebrate, personal finance website WalletHub decided to look at what states are best for people to be a police officer in. More than 900,000 people in the United States work in law enforcement, which is an extremely hazardous occupation. In the last ten years, ten of thousands of officers were injured or assaulted in the line of duty. In 2017, 129 officers were tragically killed in the line of duty. Law enforcement agencies offer incentives and perks to help attract people to these occupations and retain these workers for the longterm.

WalletHub compared all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia to see which places were the best for police officers. They used 25 key indicators including:

• Law Enforcement Officers Per Capita
• Median Income For Law Enforcement Officers (adjusted for cost of living)
• Median Income Growth For Law Enforcement Officers
• Average Starting Salary
• Salary Growth Potential
• Projected Law Enforcement Officers Per Capita by 2024
• Police-Misconduct Confidentiality Law
• Police Body-Worn Camera Legislation
• Degree of Lethal ForceAllowed For Police Use
• Presence of Red Flag Laws
• Requirement f Deescalation Training
• Presence of Blue Alerts
• Police Deaths Per 1,000 Officers
• Persons Killed By Police Per Capita
• Law Enforcement Officers Assaulted Per 1,000 Officers
• Pursuit-Related Fatalities per 100,000 Residents
• Violent Crime Rate
• Property Crime Rate
• Road Safety
• Percentage of Homicide Cases Solved
• 911 Calls Delivered to Local and Regional Answering Points per Capita
• State and Local Police Protection Expenses per Capita
• Housing Affordability
• Family and Singles Friendliness
• Public Image of Law Enforcement

Looking at this data, Texas came out pretty high on the list at number 8. Here is how the Lone Star state came out:

Life & Work for Cops in Texas (1=Best; 25=Avg.)

• 3^rd – Law-Enforcement Officers per Capita
• 4^th – Median Income for Law-Enforcement Officers (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
• 18^th – Median Income Growth for Law-Enforcement Officers
• 13^th – % of Homicide Cases Solved
• 8^th – Housing Affordability