In today's print column, I wrote about the mayor and others voting to boost their own pay while at the same time cutting millions from the Baltimore Police Department when homicides are spiking. (The mayor and some others have now vowed to donate their pay increases to charity.) I mentioned a Web site established by the police robbery unit that officers there are paying for out of their own pocket. Many readers have asked for the link. I blogged about the site last month.

Some readers objected to my comparison, noting that teachers and many other workers routinely dig into their own pockets to pay for work-related items. I mentioned that in the column. I just wanted to make a point that some cops care enough to pay for such things as their own web sites to help fight crime.

One reader wrote:

Greetings,
The police got a 3% raise starting this Friday. I don't understand their over-time issue.  Police make more money than most. If they chose to spend their money on their equipment at work...so be it. Teachers buy supplies all the time.
JDT in Woodlawn

Many jobs have lucrative overtime opportunities, cops included. It's hard to work a homicide on an 8-hour shift, and some of those detectives easily double their salaries working cases. Overtime opportunties also include jobs as varied as security for events, such as road races, and large private functions.

The reader notes that officers do make more than many other workers. A police officer in Baltimore now starts at $42,290 (that doesn't include a pending 3 percent raise). A sergeant earns $50,377 and a lieutenant gets $68,630 (both figures represent their first year in the rank). When I started covering department in 1994, officers started at roughly $28,000, then the lowest in the state.

I don't have all the figures at hand, but for comparison sake, officers in Baltimore County start at $45,783, sergeants at $55,315 and lieutenants at $59,822. All the numbers from the public affairs offices of the city and county police.

Another reader did appreciate the link between budget cuts and cops buying their own equipment:

Just wanted to take a second to thank you for your recent article. As a retired police officer from a much wealthier jurisidiction in MD, I routinely spent several hundred dollars a year on necessary supplies and gear that the agency did not provide. Items such as cold weather gear, decent footwear, pens that actually write, and the list goes on. I can only imagine how this impacts City officers who for some strange reason get paid much less than in other jurisdictions. Thanks again.

Another former officer wrote:

I retired from the Baltimore Police in 2005 as a Sergeant.  During my Career as a Police Officer I rarely found articles written by reporters that reflected positively about Police Officers.  I am currently working as a Police Officer in Crisfield Maryland and I just wanted to say thank you for what you wrote. It's good to know that someone realizes the sacrifices that most of the men and women in the Police Department make freely to do their jobs. I can remember a time when I first became a Police Officer, the Department did not issue gun belts, speed loaders, neck ties, uniform shoes, or flashlights. All these items were purchased by the individual officer and all items were required. We did this because we were proud to serve as Police Officers. We also didn't make the money that the officers are paid today. I believe we started at $16,000.00 a year. It would have been nice to have you on the job reporting back then, but it's nice to have you now for this generation. Thank you.