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NYPD is Getting 800 New Cops, 400 Civilians; Despite Crime Drop, Mayor, Kelly Call Influx Necessary NYPD is Getting 800 New Cops, 400
Civilians;
Biggest Boost Since '90s The new cops, who Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said will temporarily bring the department headcount up to 37,838, are part of the largest boost since Mr. Giuliani ended the massive build-up of the police force that began 15 years ago when Mayor Dinkins launched the Safe Streets/Safe City program. "We must face the reality that as our own population grows and as terrorism remains a threat, making the city the safest big city in America requires additional resources," Mr. Bloomberg said during a press conference in City Hall's Blue Room. In 2001, the NYPD peaked at slightly more than 41,000 officers, but over the past five years the department has downsized to 36,450 cops. The NYPD has lost roughly 3,000 officers annually over the past several years due to retirement and officers transferring to higher-paying jurisdictions, and has not replaced all of them. Despite the reduction in staff, statistics have shown that the NYPD has continued to reduce crime throughout the city. According to Mr. Kelly, since 2001 overall crime has fallen 18 percent. Last year, he noted, the city's murder total dropped to 540, its lowest level since 1962. 'Succeeded With Less'
The city plans to hire 1,600 officers in July to help patrol high-crime neighborhoods, Mr. Kelly said. The move comes as the city's population continues to increase. "Since 2001, our population has risen by 125,000 and by the next five years 200,000 residents," Mr. Bloomberg remarked. That hike, he noted, is similar to adding the entire city of Pittsburgh within the five boroughs. Mr. Kelly added, "We have a lot on our plate. The Mayor's decision today makes it a lot easier." The new officers and administrative employees will cost the city an estimated $33.8 million in fiscal year '07. City officials project the cost will rise to over $80 million in 2010. Want $219M From Feds Mr. Kelly said the city is seeking $219 million in Federal funding from the Department of Homeland Security to help offset those costs and those for other counterterrorism initiatives.
In January, President Bush signed legislation to reauthorize a grant program that U.S. Rep. Anthony D. Weiner has said could be used to hire more than 3,000 NYPD cops to help fight terrorism. According to Mr. Weiner, the reinstated Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program will give the NYPD an estimated $280 million to hire an additional 3,640 officer over the next four years. Mr. Weiner drafted and lobbied for the provision. The city has cautioned that it may not be able to use the additional money to hire more officers. Seek Continued Funding Mr. Weiner is presently working to persuade the House Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice, and Commerce to fully fund the reauthorization act. The issue will likely be resolved in May or June, an aide said. The reauthorization was included under the Violence Against Women Act and the Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Mr. Kelly noted that there have been significant changes to the overall grant process during his testimony before the City Council Committee on Public Safety hearing. Under the Urban Areas Security Initiative, funds are now supposed to be distributed based on the level of threat rather than according to population. But much of the money the department is seeking, he noted, is earmarked to pay for new technology. The NYPD is seeking $81.5 million to fund the just-announced Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, which will involve 505 surveillance cameras. The city is also lobbying for $100 million to fully cover the NYPD transit patrols and its Operation Atlas personnel costs in fiscal year 2007. Kelly: Feds Cut Corners "In the past, the Federal Government has only partially funded Atlas overtime and related fringe-benefit costs," Mr. Kelly said, referring to the department's counterterrorism program that deploys heavily armed officers in high-risk areas. Mr. Weiner applauded the city's move to add officers and administrative staff. "This is welcome news after a 12-percent decrease in operational strength since 9/11," he said in a statement. The expansion coupled with the recent reauthorization of the COPS program "shows we are making important strides in making New Yorkers safe from the threats we face," he said. To qualify under the prior COPS grant, municipalities were required to maintain a specific number of officers to prove the additional Federal funds were being used to hire more cops. It's unclear whether the new officers would have to supplement the NYPD's current headcount for the city to qualify for the Federal funding. During the City Council hearing, Mr. Kelly noted that the additional cops may not help the department reduce its burgeoning overtime costs, which are projected at $374.2 million for next year. 'All Arrests Spur OT' "We are a fixed-post agency," he testified. "Virtually any arrest you make is going to generate overtime in some shape or form." But since 2002, Mr. Kelly pointed out, the department has reduced those costs by $42 million. The majority of officer overtime is generated by special events and parades. Asked whether the city would be able to attract enough well-qualified Police Officer candidates given the drastically reduced annual starting salary of $28,900, Mr. Kelly said he was hopeful that the pay would be increased soon. "We're hopeful that next contract will address that," he told a group of reporters after the Council hearing. "I think prospective candidates will see that it's a real possibility." Patrolmen's Benevolent Association officials, however, have indicated that if the city refuses to bargain in good faith, the union will once again petition the Public Employment Relations Board to declare an impasse. That would be the first step in leading to binding arbitration, which could take up to two years. Not His Timetable Asked to comment on that possible scenario, Mr. Kelly responded, "I hope it's much sooner than that." Recruiting new officers under the current pay scale, he reiterated, would be a challenge. "They believe that they can hire these classes of 2,000 both in July and next January," he said. "I can tell you one thing: We're not lowering our standards in any way, shape or form to reach those numbers." In January, the PBA charged that the NYPD dropped its 2.0 college grade-point-average to garner enough candidates to fill its latest class of recruits under the new pay scale, under which officers over their first six years on the job will receive $48,000 less than those hired as recently as last summer. Paul J. Browne, the NYPD's chief spokesman, vehemently denied that the department has eased the standard for new cops. The number of applicants for the February 2006 exam was down 31 percent compared to last year's test held during the same period. According to the department, 28,457 applied for the 2005 test, but only 19,660 filed for the most recent exam. Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the PBA, noted that the department has struggled to retain officers over the past several years, and predicted officers would continue to leave in droves if the city didn't increase the maximum pay of $59,588, which officers now reach after 5-1/2 years in service. "Unless New York City makes police officers' top pay competitive with other law-enforcement agencies, they simply will not get enough good quality candidates to become NYC police officers," he contended. Slow to Civilianize The decision to add more civilian workers comes after the union representing those employees had charged that the NYPD was ignoring an arbitrator's order 18 months ago that able-bodied uniformed cops cannot be assigned to clerical duties that are normally performed by civilian staff. District Council 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts hailed the Mayor's plan to hire more civilian employees. "Since taking office as executive director, I have been talking with the Mayor and the NYPD and pressing the union's position that civilianization at the Police Department will increase patrol strength on the street and save an estimated $125 million a year in taxpayer dollars," she said in a statement. Let Aide Jobs Wither Until last summer, the city did not hire any Police Administrative Aides for more than two years and had not updated its training course for those workers, according to officials from Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 of DC 37. Despite the potential savings from civilianization having regularly been touted by government watchdog groups, there has always been resistance within the NYPD. In September 2004, arbitrator Maurice C. Benewitz ruled that the department was improperly deploying cops in jobs meant for civilian clerical workers. There are currently about 3,500 jobs within the NYPD being handled by uniformed officers that Local 1549 officials contend are rightfully the province of PAAs and Senior PAAs. Audrey Browne, the DC 37 attorney who handled the case, said that based on conservative estimates, the city could save more than $100 million in reduced salary and fringe-benefits costs each year by civilianizing desk jobs now performed by able-bodied cops. Mr. Kelly testified that as a result of the arbitration case, the NYPD hired 90 Police Administrative Aides in July 2005. The department, he continued, plans to add 80 in June and August and 40 in October. The Police Academy, he claimed, can accommodate no more than 80 PAAs per training session, which run for seven weeks. 'Band-Aid Approach' The PBA, however, has continued to oppose to the plan. "Replacing 400 police officers with civilians is a band-aid approach to getting sorely needed police resources on the street," Mr. Lynch argued. "Civilianization will not solve the NYPD's recruitment and retention crisis." In an audit released in June 2002, City Comptroller William C. Thompson estimated that the NYPD could save $15.2 million annually by hiring lower-paid civilians to fill 831 non-enforcement positions at Police Headquarters that are currently occupied by cops. "The department supports the civilianization process and will continue to seek funding for this purpose," Mr. Kelly asserted. Big Savings With PAAs The city created the PAA title in 1968 and began civilianizing jobs that had traditionally been performed by uniformed cops as a way to cut costs. Police salaries are more-generous than those paid to PAAs by $20,000 or more, and officers also receive more generous pension benefits. "Police Officers are trained to patrol and protect, not to do clerical work or other duties that many are presently performing," Ms. Roberts said. "The members of DC 37 are professionals who are trained and experienced in performing these tasks. They do it more efficiently and at less cost to taxpayers." DC 37 leaders have charged over the years that many of the cops working in clerical positions obtained them because of political connections that extend into the police unions, the department itself, or City Hall. "One thing that has always separated the NYPD from the rest
of the nation's police departments has been our size," Mr. Kelly said.
"We don't need to wait for the cavalry because we are the
cavalry." |
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