STUDY: LAREDO IS THE NO. 1 CITY IN THE U.S. FOR POLICE OFFICERS

By Louis San Miguel,

Laredo Morning Times
January 8, 2020

A newly-released report by online insurance resource website AdvisorSmith has named Laredo the best city in the United States for police officers to work in.

The survey looked at 374 cities in the United States to determine the best places for police officers to grow their career. It may come as a shock to most Laredoans, but the survey ranked Laredo above metropolitans such as Chicago, El Paso, Vallejo and more.

To create the report, the AdvisorSmith looked at a couple of different metrics, including the salary of an average police officer, the cost of living as well as the density of police officer jobs available in the city.

According to the website, Laredo's law enforcement workers are paid the most among all occupations in the Laredo metro area. The average salary for Laredo officers stands at $72,820, which is $7,420 higher than the average U.S. officer salary of $65,400.

In addition, the city has 66 percent more job openings for officers than the average city and a cost of living 15 percent below the national average.

The report also pointed out that despite Laredo's reputation on a national stage, the crime rate in the Gateway City was only 6 percent higher than average. Vallejo, California, which was ranked No.2, had a crime rate 69 percent higher than the national average.

Other Texas cities to make the top 10 included neighboring Brownsville, which came in at No. 8. Amarillo, TX barely made the cutoff, coming in at No. 10, according to the report.

EDITOR’S NOTE: State Police Lt. Trey Rusk (Ret.) sent me this article and added:

When I was TABC District Supervisor for South Texas, Laredo was included in my area of responsibility. It was about a 150 mile drive. At that time it was a dangerous place and still is. I had two agents assigned there and administrative technician for the office. The office was located in the county courthouse. I would drop in every once in a while unannounced. They were always expecting me when I arrived. It wasn't until I transferred that I found out that one of the Agents had a brother working at a border check point where all traffic must stop.