Protect and serve…Nassau
November 16, 2007 by David Reich-Hale
Low salaries are leading to an exodus of New York Police Department cops. And they’re headed east.
The Daily News reports that 56 of the 99 officers in Nassau’s Nov. 2 academy class worked for the NYPD, but left to join the Nassau County police force because it pays better.
But Browne said the NYPD’s problem was not attrition but recruitment efforts that have been hampered by the department’s paltry starting pay, which an arbitration panel imposed.
“Attrition of experienced officers is not the problem,” Browne said. “The problem is recruiting and retaining new recruits at the lowered salary of $25,100.”
Nassau County pays a starting salary of $34,000, nearly $9,000 more than the NYPD. After a year, a Nassau County cop’s pay jumps to $64,865.
After graduation, NYPD officers are paid $32,700 a year. The salary tops out at $59,588 after five years. In Nassau County, cops can earn $91,737 after eight years.
The NYPD starting salary was imposed by an arbitration panel in 2005. Raising it has been the subject of a Daily News editorial campaign.
It’s such a shame that NYPD get paid so little. They are in an area of high crime and put their life on the line everyday…for them to make so little is an insult and a slap in the face to those men who protect and serve us.