In the 1970's, police pensions in California were very generous, allowing Los Angeles police officers to retire after 20 years of service with 70 percent of their last day's salary. But the 1980's ushered in budget-cutting measures due to passage of Proposition 13 and inflation. Police pensions have become a political issue in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other cities. In Colorado, police and fire pension systems have compiled unfunded liabilities of $431 million and require an annual governmental contribution of $48.2 million, about half the State's active payroll. In the District of Columbia, police and firefighters have unfunded liability of more than $2 billion. To get pension systems on the right track generally requires retiring of debts through amortization -- yearly increasing the amounts contributions gradually to make up for past funding failures. Changes in pension agreements generally affect only new members of a police force or those not yet receiving pensions, rather than those already retired. No references are cited.