Low Police Salaries and Politics

[MiraiPO]

-I never quite understood why police unions across the country have to fight tooth and nail with politicians for decent working contracts, most of the public would be in favor of their police officers being paid decently yet these politicians always screw their own officers at the bargaining table.

-Here in NYC for instance, the NYPD's officers are amongst the lowest paid in the tri-state area, with their top pay lagging behind other surrounding jurisditions by anywhere from 10-35,000 dollars. Their starting salaries are also horrendous when you correlate them to the costs of living in New York, and as disgraceful as it sounds the guy making coffee at the local starbucks makes more than a starting NYPD officer. This has created a huge recruitment and retention problem in the NYPD and our dear mayor has even acknowledged it. Yet when it comes down to contract negotiations he offers our officers a joke of a raise which is barely noticeable and which by the way has concessions attatched to it which almost make it look like a pay cut! I can rant all day about the issue but my real question is why? Why do these politicians continue to do everything they can to keep police salaries so low?

[Irishluck31]

Because if you can make more at the Starbuck they think you should go work there. For every cop that leaves 10 more wait to take his or her place. Why worry about paying a decent wage if they can always keep the ranks full.

[ateamer]

Our county board of supervisors just voted themselves a 20% pay raise so they can have parity with the supervisors in the neighboring county to the north, where most of our county residents work. Funny, they just gave us an absolute crap contract that still keeps us 20-40% behind law enforcement agencies in that county and they won't give us parity. Corrupt politicians at their finest.

[Kpdpipes]

Because if you can make more at the Starbuck they think you should go work there. For every cop that leaves 10 more wait to take his or her place. Why worry about paying a decent wage if they can always keep the ranks full.

But they CANT keep the ranks full. NYPD is in seruious trouble right now, to the point that a Buddy of mine (Assigned Transit) SAW Apps being handed out at Rikers...the quote was "Anyone with an "E" Felony or Less...Want to be a Cop????"
There was a time that they had TONS more applicants than spots, that has dried up. Other cities ar ehaving the same problems.. Newark, Jersey City, Camden in NJ... JC not so mych, but the other 2 cities arent getting enough applicants..part of that is (In newarks case at least) the residency requirements, Lack of support on the part of the politicians is another. Pay factors in, but not as much here as in NYC..in NJ right now, pensions and Benefits are under fire constantly, so that's where we have our worries.

[Irishluck31]

But they CANT keep the ranks full. NYPD is in seruious trouble right now, to the point that a Buddy of mine (Assigned Transit) SAW Apps being handed out at Rikers...the quote was "Anyone with an "E" Felony or Less...Want to be a Cop????"
There was a time that they had TONS more applicants than spots, that has dried up. Other cities ar ehaving the same problems.. Newark, Jersey City, Camden in NJ... JC not so mych, but the other 2 cities arent getting enough applicants..part of that is (In newarks case at least) the residency requirements, Lack of support on the part of the politicians is another. Pay factors in, but not as much here as in NYC..in NJ right now, pensions and Benefits are under fire constantly, so that's where we have our worries.

Sure they can, they hand out apps to people with E felonies or less. Then they get what they get, a bunch of felons. We lower the hiring standards and pay out tons of money in law sits. There is no good answer to the problem, except to raise the pay to a point where I can make more as a cop then as a starbucks clerk.

It sucks that I have to have two jobs as a rookie to make ends meet, but as It was said to me back then, "If you dont like it quit and work someplace where you can make more money." Like I said, no good answer.

[rookienj2]

I understand how you feel about the salaries officers are receiving and the fact that we fight tooth and nail for increases. Down here (Baltimore,MD) one of our papers (The Examiner) recently printed every officers salary as well as the amount of overtime made in the paper. For this being a city that's infested with crime, we are noticiably underpaid compared to our counterparts out in the counties and certain state agencies. It's a joke......by the way our contract is up this June and don't you know, we (meaning our FOP) already stated that we shouldn't expect much of a raise. The city state's attorney, mayor, and city council all received substantial raises within in the last 6 months.I guess they think we'll be happy with the crumbs they plan on throwing our way.

[SharpMind>Gun]

wow I just looked it up. How does chicago officers make more than NY?

chicago makes 43,000 to start; 59,000 after 1 1/2 years

NYPD 25,000 to start 34,000 after 1 1/2 years

Chicago isnt the cheapest city in the world. but NY is still a bit more expensive. their starting pay looks like it hasnt been updated since the late 80's

[pulicords]

NYPD is in seruious trouble right now, to the point that a Buddy of mine (Assigned Transit) SAW Apps being handed out at Rikers...the quote was "Anyone with an "E" Felony or Less...Want to be a Cop????"

How do they hire convicted felons as police officers when they can't legally own/possess firearms? If they hire felons as unarmed custody officers they're getting getting a raw deal too. It would be cheaper to just give better food to the trustees!

[PhilipCal]

Low Police Salaries

For the NYPD Officer, a major part of the problem is Mayor Bloomberg. Politicans of his type have absolutely no understanding of the needs of a law enforcement agency. The vast majority of cops certainly aren't in this job for the money. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't recieve decent pay and benefits. When the dust settles and the smoke clears, the public gets exactly the type/quality of services they want. That includes law enforcement. If the public wants quality services, personnel,they will be willing to pay for it.

[Kpdpipes]

Sure they can, they hand out apps to people with E felonies or less. Then they get what they get, a bunch of felons. We lower the hiring standards and pay out tons of money in law sits. There is no good answer to the problem, except to raise the pay to a point where I can make more as a cop then as a starbucks clerk.

It sucks that I have to have two jobs as a rookie to make ends meet, but as It was said to me back then, "If you dont like it quit and work someplace where you can make more money." Like I said, no good answer.

Easier said than done, when you CANT work side jobs at first..there's a Seminal problem here when the money a rookie cop makes allows him to qualify for friggin FOODSTAMPS for chrissakes!! Miami, NEw Orleans, MPDC, Camden..these are All departments that ended up lowering standards, or even foregoing background checks altogether..and look what THAT got them. Pat Lynch is forgetting one of the basic rules "Be careful how badly you screw over your unborn, because eventually THEY'LL be running things, and you dont have a vote anymore when you're retired" My group lost 5K in base pay, and ANY raises other than fixed steps for a whole .2 %. Our FD just dumped 9 Steps on THEIR unborn (and screwed any guys not already on Top pay as well, by not having a grandfather clause for current employees), and also eliminated their longevity, and a few other benefits...all for 24 hour shifts. Taking care of the older guys is all well and good..but you cant screw the newborns while you're doing it, there HAS to be some balance.

[Kpdpipes]

How do they hire convicted felons as police officers when they can't legally own/possess firearms? If they hire felons as unarmed custody officers they're getting getting a raw deal too. It would be cheaper to just give better food to the trustees!

NY's classification system is wacky..an "E" felony is basically what a strong misdemenaor would be other places i think..you'd have to check with an NY guy to be sure.

[pulicords]

LEOs are always getting it one way or the other:

Conservatives don't want us to have decent pay, benefits or retirement....
but support us with enforcing the law and jailing criminals.

Liberals give us decent pay, benefits and retirement............
but don't want us enforcing the law and jailing criminals.

We need a third party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MiraiPO]

Easier said than done, when you CANT work side jobs at first..there's a Seminal problem here when the money a rookie cop makes allows him to qualify for friggin FOODSTAMPS for chrissakes!! Miami, NEw Orleans, MPDC, Camden..these are All departments that ended up lowering standards, or even foregoing background checks altogether..and look what THAT got them. Pat Lynch is forgetting one of the basic rules "Be careful how badly you screw over your unborn, because eventually THEY'LL be running things, and you dont have a vote anymore when you're retired" My group lost 5K in base pay, and ANY raises other than fixed steps for a whole .2 %. Our FD just dumped 9 Steps on THEIR unborn (and screwed any guys not already on Top pay as well, by not having a grandfather clause for current employees), and also eliminated their longevity, and a few other benefits...all for 24 hour shifts. Taking care of the older guys is all well and good..but you cant screw the newborns while you're doing it, there HAS to be some balance.

According to Pat Lynch, he and the NYC PBA did not mean to sell out the unborn. Initially during negotiations Mayor Bloomberg, offered the NYC PBA a contract which would slash the starting salary to $23,000 and offered a raise that would've left cops with a little less than $58,000 a year. The PBA turned this deal down and they went on to Arbitration where the Arbitrator came down with a deal that slashed pay down to $25,100 and offered cops a raise of $59,588. The PBA chose the lesser of two evils by agreeing to the arbitrators offer. Bloomberg insists that the PBA is to blame for the low starting salaries but what that weasel doesent tell the public is that he in fact wanted the pay to be even LOWER than $25,100. What's even more disgraceful is that NYC currently has a Budget Surplus of 4.4 Billion Dollars and Bloomberg still refuses to give our cops a raise they greatly need and deserve.