At the end of July, Governor Paterson gave a rare televised address to brace New Yorkers for impending cuts required by an estimated $6.4 billion budget cap. But it seems that the belt tightening doesn’t apply to state troopers: Besides adding more officers to his security detail to the tune of $4 million, the governor has now agreed to a pay raise for troopers totaling almost 14% over four years. The Sun is quick to point out that the raise comes on the heels of a July 8th contribution of $25,000 from the State Troopers PAC to Paterson's gubernatorial campaign. The governor’s office is mum on how much the contract settlement will cost, but the Empire Center for New York State Policy puts it at about $45 million over four years. more ›

A study commissioned by the state police has determined that Governor Paterson's security detail is inadequate, so the squad assigned to protect him will be increased by about 45 officers. The Post, naturally, is quick to point out that the beef-up will cost over $4 million – "even as Paterson calls for cuts in state spending." Pataki had about 200 troopers assigned to executive security; the number shrank to 150 under Spitzer. The addition of more cops is something of a surprise in Paterson's case since he previously talked about "an element in the police force... of out-of-control people who had power that were clearly monitoring a lot of the elected officials." Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating these allegations about "rogue members" on the state police squad assigned to protect politicians. more ›