TexasCHLforum.com

Yeah but they lose good locals to higher paying departments. Mesquite PD will start you out at 51k. Most around Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio will start in mid 40's. And by the time your done with academy and FTO you'll be making on average 2 to 5 thousand more within 1 to 1.5 years. You can make decent money, you just gotta work OT like other jobs. I know of officers who have made 75k plus and thats down here in Galveston County. I do that with OT too, not LEO though. So just depends on where you are willing to work and how much. But thats DPS 's biggest problem, they are on average 10k less starting out then most. And then why would you want to go through one of the hardest police academies in the nation for only 35k ish starting salary. The state has a notorious problem of giving raises that only equal to 1 to 2 k more a year. Thats why I dont work for the state anymore, among other reasons.

starts in mid 30's and raises are like every four years. They really arent paid enough, and have had problems of hiring people then having them leave to higher paying departments. I know in the early 2000's when they first started hiring alot, their hiring quality was not good. They were worried about meeting quotas. So hopefully that has changed.