There is no shortage of departments that pay better than this one. Just pick a city you'd like to live in and apply there. Wherever it is, it will pay more than here. LMPD's pay has been cut 25% because of inflation since merger and the state got rid of pensions, so this is the bottom rung of law enforcement aside from tiny PDs in the country paying $8 per hour. At least they can say green acres is the place to be and their juries still send the sh-theads to prison for long stretches.