i think it's unfair to judge the salary of police officers. they do have to face danger situations. they also had to go thro lots of trainings. you don't see as many cops foot patrolling on the streets like in hk. cos that's just not efficient in such large area.
well, part of their jobs also involve paper/computer work. that's why some times you see cop's cars parked on the side of a street and u thought for no real reason. and the cop was just typing up his/her reports.
btw you can't judge how important a person's job is just by how much they get paid.