Joe
Interesting post. I've had similar thoughts. As a police inspector I earn a decent wage, it's against UK law to make me redundant and I've a phenomenal final salary pension. But... increasingly frustrated with the job and have long harboured thoughts of a career change.
My 'master-plan' having held a PPL for 7 years is that I'm now doing my ATPLs DL, slow-time. When done, I'll do the ME CPL which I should be able to do almost full time with all the leave I get and shiftwork. Then decision time as I think the IR needs a full time brain, so might have to take maybe a month or two of unpaid leave.
So maybe 3 years from now I could be employable. If the market is in a better shape and a job offer is realistic, I'd probably accept the likely 50+% pay cut, take a career break of up to 5 years and follow the dream. If it didn't work out for whatever reason, I won't regret not trying, I'll go back to the security of policing and I'll be equally happy maintaining my ratings with a view to a semi-retirement instructing.
Or, it might just be possible to combine working part-time in the police with a flying job. I'd have to be lucky but I wouldn't say it was impossible.