. >> reporter: jennifer bland gave up a career in veterinary medicine to become a cop. >> i really felt a call to help people. >> at this sacramento firehouse, todd filbrun echoes that sense of duty. >> firefighters put their lives on the line every day and make sacrifices. >> the sacrifices of public safety workers in sacramento were rewarded with generous pensions, which are now crippling the city budget says marsha fridge of the california foundation for fiscal responsibility. >> $500 million we are in debt on these pensions. public safety in cities is what is driving the pension costs increase. >> so sacramento gave its public safety workers a stark choice pay more for their pensions or face big job cuts. i am trying to make a mortgage and put my wife through law school and pay the every day bills, i could be without a job, i could be losing my home. >> sacramento firefighters agreed to pay a bigger share of their pensions, 44 jobs were saved. it was a very tough decision. they wanted to do the right thing, but yet at the same time it was coming at a great personal cost. >> the poli