There's still a cut? Who knew? And to think the news is talking about the lowering of LEO hiring standards to fill warm bodies into mass vacancies.
And since you're going there with the inane "wish I was one of yous" nonsense...
Finance degree. Self-employed in an overly-regulated field where I work at home in my pajamas if I want, with a professional license that is borderline impossible to get. A license that was seven years of hell (after college - a pre-req for the field) for me to secure. Income higher than the median police chief salary in the majority of US states - probably not all, I assume CA is probably pretty high. A lot more than the median in most states. And I could make a lot more in my field if I was a dirtbag without ethics, but that's not how I roll. Oh, and in drastic, stark contrast to yourself, I loathe the small number of dirtbags in my profession and wish them to lose their licenses and careers. Some of my peers even deserve to be brought up on financial securities fraud, but that doesn't happen to them as much as I wish either. Just like bad cops keep their jobs, right.
Live across the street from the sled trail up here deep in the northwoods. A thousand public lakes just in my county (or so they say). Have a 35x70 heated Morton building filled with toys for all the seasons. The wife and I moved for many reasons - the same reasons most are drawn here for vacation - so if you think I'm some depressed unhappy slob in a bad place personally or professionally then - LOLOL - I have a bridge to sell you.
Anywho... I'll leave you with some notable quotes, while you meanwhile wrap yourself up in the smothering comfort of your bloated, bankrupt (ethically and literally) government blanket, in the festering anal fissure that is your Chicago home base.
"When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong."