Think NJ cops are overpaid? Watch these fire rescue videos (Opinion)

Media has often brought up police officers’ salaries as if it’s something they should be ashamed of. God forbid they’re paid overtime, then the claws really come out.

Statewide the average pay is $99,000 but towns can vary greatly. Additional pay averages just over $24,000. I hate to tell reporters who worked very hard on the research that $123,000 a year in a place like New Jersey is not living a great life.

Now maybe you’re like many who think of police as our enemy because they cost you points on your license and money in speeding tickets. (Really we’re doing that to ourselves, aren’t we?)

But if you forget what dangerous work they do and the skin they literally have in the game every shift, take a look at these two videos.

The dangers a police officer faces aren’t always in the form of a weapon being used against them. Sometimes it’s what you’ll see in this NJ.com video of an incident that happened at 2 a.m. Saturday in Ridgefield.

An electrical problem caused the vehicle to erupt in flames and the officers risked their lives in saving this driver.

Police released a statement saying,

“Battling intense heat, broken glass and a host of physical barriers, the three officers were able to physically remove (the driver) as flames began to take over the cabin of the vehicle.”

It’s unclear to me if the man was also having a medical episode at the time but it seems clear he wasn’t able to get out on his own.

Here’s another from just last month when Atlantic City officers responded to a car on fire on the Whitehorse Pike. The driver was unconscious and these cops risked everything to get him pulled away from a burning vehicle that could have exploded any moment, as seen in video released by the Atlantic City Police Department.

So next time you see stories about the outrageous pay law enforcement receives try thinking about some of the outrageous acts of heroism they perform.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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