that the police get such massive pensions...

[TakenYears]

....and from the age of 50.

Other public sectar workers get nothing remotely resembling that.

Cook - what is your argument - my argument is that that their massive pensions are disproportionate AND unfair.

Some MNetters are police officer or their DOs are.

But I read somewhere that police T&Cs haven't been reviewed since 1978 (is that right). If so, they were bound to be reviewed at some point; I'm more surprised it's not happened before, rather than the need to do it now when all public spending is under pressure.

No - calling this a police bashing thread is ridiculous!! Argue the points. Why do I as a full time nurse get 5k pension and why does a a police officer get 25k, a lump sum and can leave at 50??

Taken .... What do you pay towards your pension?

Cook - 12%.

The police are welcome to it.

I am a teacher, I work hard blah blah blah - still think police are welcome to it

If you don;t like it become a police officer.

And if you want my hokidays [ish] become a teacher.

Do you think your job is the same as that of a police officer?

Asking taken years

"If you don;t like it become a police officer."

!!

Do you have the right to industrial action if you disagree with your conditions?

You may think that it's unfair and disproportionate that doesn't mean that it is.

As others have pointed out there are other T&Cs that you need to take into account. The right to strike being one of them.

Is that an NHS pension you pay 12% to?

Cook - I'm a staff nurse nurse on a busy acute ward - and do a good job. I am not a police officer.

Nurses rarely strike'

But you are legally entitled to strike yes?

My dad was a police man, he paid a huge contribution to his pension and he bloody deserved it, he worked for 35 years, was put in a coma after being battered with a house brick, left for dead in a ditch and had three serious RTA's during chases. He spend 20 years working on the motor ways sorting out crashes, fatalities and all of the other unpleasant things that most people would only witness in their nightmares. He deserves EVERY penny that he gets

Taken - I'm not questioning Whether you are good at your job. On the whole, nurses can have it tough. However, you can't compare your job to a police officers.

"But you are legally entitled to strike yes?"

Is that crucial to the argument?

Taken - you have the option to strike. Police don't.

I am a nurse, will probably retire when I am 68. Would I prefer/want to do a police officers job and retire on a bigger pension and at an earlier age?

No way. I think the police do a fantastic job and deserve every penny of their pensions.

Whoever said divide and rule is spot on.

And as for front line nurses getting assaulted etc, well I have been nursing for over 30 years and I have only been assaulted twice in all that time. I could not imagine what it must be like to work in a job that may involve physical attacks daily.

"On the whole, nurses can have it tough. However, you can't compare your job to a police officers."

Why?

Why is my pension 5k ayear and theirs is 25k+, and can leave at 50?

Taken I really don't know where you're getting your figures from. The very IDEA of DP getting a 25k pension

the likelihood is he will 'retire' then have to do some godawful job as a security guard so we can pay the rent in our dotage (because no, a PC's wage does not stretch to a mortgage in London).

Is that crucial to the argument?

I think it is yes. Better T&Cs in exchange for the loss of the legal right to strike. You can't really look at the pension scheme in isolation. You need to look at the whole picture.

I though the NHS pension scheme contributions were less than the 12% you quote.

I think the argument regarding the risks that police officers face has been most eloquently portrayed here, so I won't go over old ground. What a lot of people fail to realise is that there are a lot of other harrowing things that officers have to do on a daily basis. I feel the need to give a snap-shot of my working life in the 3.5 months since returning to work after the birth of my second DD :-

I have attended 2 suicides and numerous suspicious deaths (where I have taken sole responsibility for deciding whether we commence a murder enquiry). I have taken three very neglected children into police protection. I have attended a road accident where a 20 year old woman was killed having been hit by a lorry. I have investigated the rape of a 12 year old girl. Oh and on my last shift I helped a violent mentally I'll woman to get her very large bosoms back into her bra, because she asked me to (and I hoped it would calm her down).

We need good people to keep coming into this profession, we need something to encourage them - a decent pension is a good place to start.

Taken- How many riots have you worked? How many times have you been had to chase people thinking about the potential risks and on sequences? How often have you been abused?

you do not pay the same in!

what is your problem? ...it's basic maths, police pensions are not a gift, you seem to think they are.