Tom Gibboney is spot on. There is nothing more to say.

I see the escalation Gibboney and others talk about, but cities may not "collude" to "stop the bidding war." Its just as illegal for buyers to fix the price they’ll pay as it is for sellers to fix the prices they charge.

I'm not a lawyer, but I think anti-trust laws are Federal, so even a State or County legislative act would not work.

BTW, below this post at the moment I'm typing is a banner ad from Edu.PoliceLink.com. It advertises education services to qualify to become a law enforcement officer.

For those who really believe in free markets, and hope for solutions other than destroying them, what capitalism is supposed to do is to respond to the demand for police by adjusting supply (not fixing prices.) Maybe some of those laid off car workers will become nurses and police who are willing to accept a new career at the lower starting salary and work hard to provide near equivalent service levels.

The banner ad suggests just that.

Here's what Gibboney said in a 2007 editorial: "Menlo Park cops need help"

"Given the tough recruiting environment — California faces a shortage of up to 13,000 police officers by 2010 — it is time to abandon the city's position of setting its wage standard in the mid-range of what is offered in the surrounding area. That strategy obviously is not working, and if the city is to catch up, it will have to ante up more dollars."

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