Cops in California make well over $100,000 per year. With a HS diploma.
And in San Francisco, besides the over $100 grand, their pension is nearly 100 percent of pay at 50 years of age. They top off at 94 percent. But when overtime is factored in, they end up getting more in their pension than their regular pay. A lot of cops earn $150 grand a year with overtime pay. Formula was 3 percent times years of service times last year of pay including overtime, with a max at 94 percent, earliest to receive full retirement is 50 years of age. Formula may have been increased in recent years. They are extremely well paid. I don’t know if a college degree is required, that may be so now. But in years past a HS diploma was sufficient. I know SF cops who merely have a HS equivalency diploma, never having finished high school.
Which department/city are you talking about? I can find no California city where police make "well over $100,000 per year" as you have stated.
In California, that hardly qualifies one as rich, and I guarantee, cops in the most parts of the country start at a third of that. Many cities require police to have a college degree. In small towns, the cops may make $20,000.. maybe.