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Not only is the NYPD having trouble getting potential recruits to sit for the entrance exam to the Police Academy, but one in five who gain entrance wind up dropping out or disqualifying themselves before they graduate. The end result is that for the first time in years, fewer than 1,000 were officers were added to the force from a graduating class and the size of the NYPD has shrunk to its smallest number in 15 years.
Commissioner Ray Kelly attributes the falling recruitment and graduation rates to the $25,100 salary that rookies earn their first year on the job--an adjustment that was part of the most recent union negotiations that took effect in 2006. Since then, the rate of dropouts has been increasing with every class.
The City Council is proposing department budget cuts that will result in a further reduction of the size of the police force by 1,000, which is just as well because the low replacement rate by new officers is shrinking the department anyway. Mayor Bloomberg announced late last year that he planned to double the number of cops in Operation Impact, which concentrates mostly new recruits in high crime areas.
Infographic from the NYPost
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Per the NYPD: less is more.
i would think operation impact would be more effective if they concentrated veteran police officers in high-crime areas, no?
Just privatize the operation. Then Blackwater and Triple Canopy can charge the city 120K per NYPD contractor, and we can have a bunch of ex-Green Berets running around the city. The city'll save money on bullets as well, as those guys are trained to double-tap their kills. No more of this 50-shot nonsense.
Problem solved.
$25k? Why the hell would anyone take a thankless, grinding and dangerous job in the most expensive city in the country, for less money than you can make managing a fast food chain?
it'll pick back up when the economy tanks.
25k is only when they're still in the academy, is it not? that's not bad pay for training/on the job training. I'd wish everyone would stop parading that number around.
don't forget your bennies, your sick pay, health insurance, holiday, pension and free public transportation. Add that into the salary like how the private sector budgets their payroll and it's much much more than 25K.
cwbuechelerm, ask the police union. they decided to shift the money to the cops with seniority at the expense of the newbies - many of whom already do quite well and pull in overtime to boot. (people love to blame the city for the pay when it really had nothing to do with the decision)
I wasn't blaming the city - I was just wondering why anyone would take the job. But then, I have friends who're trying to get into the police academy at this very moment, and I don't understand why they're doing it either. You'd have to pay me an incredible amount of money to take that job, and the bullshit that comes with it.
Wait! I thing that low first-year salary is actually for the year they're attending the academy. Not too many fields pay for college and internships. And the salary of policemen has to be considered a lifetime annuity. They retire after 20 years with lifetime health care and pensions based on the last few overtime-packed years. Anyone who's too stupid to see the value in that shouldn't be trusted to carry a gun in the first place.
I totally agree with @4. It's a travesty that we pay those who defend our lives a salary that's just above minimum wage.
I forgot the Overtime, sure you may have to kiss your CO to get some primo assignments.
but think of all the overtime you'll be getting, the protest parades, the ethnic parades, the homeland security parades, the gay parade and all the parades in every borough AND the Union Square pillow fight.
Like one poster mentioned long ago, if a cop pulls in less than 30K his first year, he's not trying or something to that effect.
@5: Many people in the private sector get all those benefits too. Their pension is great, but how can anyone afford to live in NYC for $25k?
Many lower cost of living areas outside NYC also pay their police more. It's no wonder we can't find qualified applicants.
Today I learned Gothamist commenters hate cops more than they love "the worker."
They shouldn't have to work overtime to get 30k at a job where they RISK THEIR LIVES to protect yours.
Why would anyone take the job? How about the sweet pension and healthcare benefits? Sucks to be a rookie but there aren't too many jobs out there where it doesn't.
"Wait! I thing that low first-year salary is actually for the year they're attending the academy."
There's plenty of misinformation about it, in no small part because the union brass always refer to it as "first-year salary" -- misleadingly.
But, it's actually only while in the academy... from the NYPD website:
"Start receiving full pay and benefits from your first day of recruit training ($25,100 per annum). Upon the completion of the Police Academy (six months), your annual salary increases to $32,700."
http://www.nypd2.org/html/recruit/salary.html
oh don't one worry, most cops don't live within the five boroughs. they all move tout de suite. they don't want to live within the trash they need to protect.
"Sucks to be a rookie but there aren't too many jobs out there where it doesn't."
Yep... what do doctors have to go through during internship? What's the first year as a stockbroker like... or that of a first-year associate in a major law firm?
32.7K not too shabby. retire in 20.
or as they say in and out in twenty. not a bad way to make a living and you get to carry a gun.
I'm no bleating sheep gushing like a good German for anyone in uniform, but you have to agree that the NYPD's low pay is ridiculous. Many police departments in less dangerous places have starting salaries that are at least twice that of the NYPD, and that includes pension and other benefits also. In fact, rookie cops often can't even afford all the equipment they need to buy to be cops, and have to borrow money from the city (at a profit to the city) in order to be properly equipped. That's not right. Our politicians are always the first to show up at police funerals, and jump at the chance to show how much they love cops. Show them the money.
#12 - I don't think it's hatred of cops, but many New Yorkers feel that:
- crime is lower owing more to changing economic/social conditions than police procedures.
- too many New Yorkers see too many cops standing around chatting and checking out chicks (see the GCT subway stations on most mornings), rather than the cops behaving in a professional manner.
- beat cops are non-existent. Residents have no opportunity to actually meet and get to know their neighborhood police officers.
- the NYPD has done a horrible job of PR. The news is routinely littered with stories ranging from cops on trial for non-provoked shootings, cops busted for drug dealing and cops involved in accidents where they are rarely charged and investigated.
equipment, much like a suit or new wardrobe one must buy for a new job. and, we don't even get a uniform allowance.
@19: There are bad cops and good cops just like there are bad doctors and good doctors, bad teachers and good teachers, and bad investment bankers and.... uhhh bad investment bankers and bad investment bankers (I kid).
I just feel like we should give these men and women some credit: A lot of them are out there because they feel like they have an obligation to serve and benefit their community.
It just starts to seem really juvenile... I hated cops when I was a "rebellious teen," but then I grew up and realized cops are people like everyone else and some of them really do make the world a better place.
There are bad cops and good cops just like there are bad doctors and good doctors, bad teachers and good teachers, and bad investment bankers
Except my taxes don't pay for bad doctors. Unfortunately, my taxes do pay for bad teachers...
It's not hatred of cops, or juvenilia, it's years of living in New York City and witnessing a poorly run department and coarse behavior on the part of many NYPD personnel. The NYPD has not earned much in the good-will department of most New Yorkers -- and it's starting to show.
dont forget miltary & some college is required.
for a 19 yr old kid your better off at mcdonald's.
these dudes already got the girlfriends, the partying, the iroc, the firt apt, unless they hunker down and say im enduring these sacrifices now for a better futuer later, it will never work.
The NYPD has been a mill for those who want to get their foot in the door so they can go off to the Island or Westchester or the Port Authority to get a higher salary.