Michigan Listed as One of America’s Worst States for Cops

The public's relationship with local authorities is always a tricky subject. An old saying I heard growing up in the south was "Red, white and blue are the colors of freedom, unless they're flashing behind you." And I heard that phrase primarily from people who are most likely to have a thin blue line sticker on their truck.

Naturally, places with higher crime rates are bound to have a less than favorable view of police. In places like that, obstruction is used to mirror the lack of trust the public has in the authorities. It's a difficult cycle, which makes the jobs of police, whether they do their jobs in good faith or not, much more difficult.

Of course, in such a dangerous profession, pay and training are what separates one precinct from the next, with respect to what types of crimes they're likely to run into on patrol.

Why Michigan is One of America's Worst States for Cops

Here in Michigan, both situations apply. A recent study published by WalletHub looked at data scoping the job opportunities and competition, training requirements, and the hazards of the job to determine which states were the best and worst for cops. Michigan wasn't in the bottom 10, but the state did fall comfortably in the back half of the rankings among the worst states.

Overall, Michigan ranked No. 31, or the 19th-worst state (for clarity, Washington D.C. was included in the study, ranking No. 4 overall, technically boosting Michigan by one spot to 30th overall, or 20th worst.)

Michigan did rank in the top half for training requirements, No. 23 overall in the category. However, the struggles came from the other two categories. Michigan ranked No. 32 for job opportunities and competitions and No. 34 for job hazards and protections.

Of course, considering cities such as Detroit, Flint, Muskegon, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek all have less than favorable crime rates, it's understandable why Michigan would fare so poorly for its police in this particular study.