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Facebook offers to pay Menlo Park $600k to hire a cop

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Re: Facebook offers to pay Menlo Park $600k to hire a cop

#2
Interesting. Increased security, faster response times, and public image at such a cheap rate is probably a no-brainer for large tech companies like Facebook.

I feel like we're going to see more private funding for public positions in the (perhaps distant) future, but I suppose the obvious question is: at what point does private funding of public officials become theoretically troublesome? Some would call this the start to an unsettling change.

Re: Facebook offers to pay Menlo Park $600k to hire a cop

#3

Interesting. Increased security, faster response times, and public image at such a cheap rate is probably a no-brainer for large tech companies like Facebook. I feel like we're going to see more private funding for public positions in the (perhaps distant) future, but I suppose the obvious question is: at what point does private funding of public officials become theoretically troublesome? Some would call this the st…

There's a movie about this exact subject called Robocop.

Re: Facebook offers to pay Menlo Park $600k to hire a cop

#4

Interesting. Increased security, faster response times, and public image at such a cheap rate is probably a no-brainer for large tech companies like Facebook. I feel like we're going to see more private funding for public positions in the (perhaps distant) future, but I suppose the obvious question is: at what point does private funding of public officials become theoretically troublesome? Some would call this the st…

If they want to make a donation to the city with a stipulation that it goes towards a new officer being hired that's fine. It becomes unsettling if they begin being able to dictate what that public official is supposed to do

Re: Facebook offers to pay Menlo Park $600k to hire a cop

#5
Facebook has committed to provide up to $600,000 over three years, enough in the city's estimate to cover the salary and benefits of a full-time officer.

According to this http://jeffwongdesign.com/2010/03/nypd-officers-can-make-6-f..., NYPD can make 91K after 6 years in the service.

Is Facebook paying less? I don't know the cost of benefit and insurance. I really doubt a single police officer will receive more than $100K benefit in three years. I would be very surprise if they do!

I am not against Facebook pays the city to hire additional security personnel. I am all for companies and community putting a fund together to hire additional police officers or firefighters or EMT, but this worries me:

"Let's say Facebook has a need of assistance, or some other large company, and says, 'We want to have drills for an active shooter or a bomb threat. We need you to help us put that together.' They'd have an actual person (to assist)," Bertini said.

I am not saying we don't want to have more police officers, but right now, rich companies can directly fund government outside of taxation.

They are directly paying to hire government employee. Why can't Facebook have their own outreach team to work with local police public relation to carry out such plan (to reduce student truancy). Also, consider security guards are paid at a lower rate, why can't we help boost their salary (see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2541541/Google-hirin...)?

In the case of bomb threat or shooting, I am damn sure a 911 call is enough to get 100 county officers from MP and nearby county. A single officer will not help much.

It seems like they are just concerned with unauthorized access rather than defeating crime rate.

Re: Facebook offers to pay Menlo Park $600k to hire a cop

#6
post #5

Facebook has committed to provide up to $600,000 over three years, enough in the city's estimate to cover the salary and benefits of a full-time officer. According to this http://jeffwongdesign.com/2010/03/nypd-officers-can-make-6-f... , NYPD can make 91K after 6 years in the service. Is Facebook paying less? I don't know the cost of benefit and insurance. I really doubt a single police officer will receive more than…

>Also, consider security guards are paid at a lower rate, why can't we help boost their salary

sworn officer vs. security guard is like a queen vs. pawn.

>It seems like they are just concerned with unauthorized access rather than defeating crime rate.

something like 10 years ago (when i was commuting to that Sun's (back then) campus) there were police presence at that station. Not that it was affecting much, at least at the outsider look it is the same now as it has been through all these years. Given the generational shift - FB employees are supposedly like to walk and ride bikes and live nearby with the campus - the police presence seems like another perk FB is trying to buy for their employees as this place - East Palo Alto - is supposedly looking scary to young people coming from good families in good neighborhoods :)

Re: Facebook offers to pay Menlo Park $600k to hire a cop

#7
This sets a bad precedent IMO. Are the only people going to get security those that will pay [extra] for it?

It just feels wrong to be able to pay government for this kind of thing - kinda like paying the military to do something for you under the color of law.

Re: Facebook offers to pay Menlo Park $600k to hire a cop

#8
post #5

Facebook has committed to provide up to $600,000 over three years, enough in the city's estimate to cover the salary and benefits of a full-time officer. According to this http://jeffwongdesign.com/2010/03/nypd-officers-can-make-6-f... , NYPD can make 91K after 6 years in the service. Is Facebook paying less? I don't know the cost of benefit and insurance. I really doubt a single police officer will receive more than…

In addition to the cost of benefits - which can be HUGE for jobs of that sort (if you take proper account of the value of early retirement with a defined benefit pension) - there's also the overhead associated with hiring that cop. Getting that cop a suitable car, phone, gun, desk space in an office and so on.

Re: Facebook offers to pay Menlo Park $600k to hire a cop

#9

Interesting. Increased security, faster response times, and public image at such a cheap rate is probably a no-brainer for large tech companies like Facebook. I feel like we're going to see more private funding for public positions in the (perhaps distant) future, but I suppose the obvious question is: at what point does private funding of public officials become theoretically troublesome? Some would call this the st…

Some lines are being blurred here, and perhaps it's troubling in the abstract, but it's too early to tell. For now, it seems more like a donation and less like a buyout.

If we want to call attention to something very troubling in the here and now, we should look at the for-profit prison industry. That's a whole different ball of wax.

Re: Facebook offers to pay Menlo Park $600k to hire a cop

#10
post #5

Facebook has committed to provide up to $600,000 over three years, enough in the city's estimate to cover the salary and benefits of a full-time officer. According to this http://jeffwongdesign.com/2010/03/nypd-officers-can-make-6-f... , NYPD can make 91K after 6 years in the service. Is Facebook paying less? I don't know the cost of benefit and insurance. I really doubt a single police officer will receive more than…

> NYPD can make 91K after 6 years in the service. > > Is Facebook paying less? I don't know the cost of benefit and insurance. I really doubt a single police officer will receive more than $100K benefit in three years. I would be very surprise if they do!

Rule of thumb in government: double the wage to achieve full-cost of a salaried employee.

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