FWIW, that $21k salary is about the same buying power as a $45k salary today due to inflation. They're not actually making more money than you were when you started.
"Chucks" is a reference to Service Charlies in the USMC, not Chukka boots. Service Charlies are similar to most traditional police uniforms......actually, many police departments got their start using ex-military uniforms, including the Vermont State Police actually using surplus USMC service uniforms.
Chukka boots are cool, though I prefer other styles.
Sorry to hear that you feel you're in an agency of shitbags. Can't say the same about mine, as the younger agents are doing stuff the boomers and gen Xrs never dared doing because of the agency culture and roots they were brought into (we weren't statutory LEOs until the 80s). I don't think that means our seniors are qualitatively inferior, but they do cause the majority of unnecessary problems when Shit Needs to Get Done
TM.
Instead of being qualitatively inferior, it's also possible your new hires are being bred into a system of inaction due to the sharp erosion of LE powers over the last decade or two. Not that I agree with it, but society wants law encouragement, not law enforcement...…..so it's no wonder that new hires are coming into LE with a different mindset because the only thing they see from proactiveness in street policing these days is liability and punishment.
My point is that it has very little to do with what generation a person is from. It's more a matter of circumstance.
But, yeah, FWIW in terms of officer retention, taking the mindset of, "stop being a pussy and self-medicate" isn't the right answer in today's society.