NYPD'S EDUCATED INVESTMENT

NYPD's Educated Investment

A month after the Police Department acknowledged the problems caused by a paltry starting salary by agreeing to pay for the night-sights on departmental guns issued to rookie cops, it has taken a more significant step by offering up to $15,000 toward paying off college loans.

The program will be applied for the first time for the recruit class that enters the Police Academy in January. There is no question, however, that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly hopes the announcement has at least as big an impact on the current filing for a new Police Officer exam that will be held in February.

The college loan program will be administered over the course of five years, meaning new cops will have to stay in the job at least that long to take full advantage. An NYPD survey of recent Police Academy classes has shown that the recruits averaged $16,000 in outstanding college loans.

It is probably also no coincidence that the length of the payment schedule would carry new officers to the point where they would likely make a big pay jump to achieve maximum salary. Although the standard for cops hired beginning in 2006 has been 5-1/2 years to maximum, recent Bloomberg administration contracts with other uniformed unions representing Firefighters and Correction Officers have returned new hires to a five-year pay progression.

The new program is clearly a good investment for the NYPD, especially so since funding will come from the Police Foundation rather than the department's own budget. It offers some positive financial news to those considering a career in the department at a time when they are unlikely to be getting any from the contract situation of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.

Even as virtually every other uniformed union has settled its contract, the PBA seems determined to proceed through arbitration in seeking a successor to a pact that expired in August 2004. If the arbitration - which begins next month - goes to completion, it is unlikely a new pact will be in place until mid-spring next year.

While the city has made clear it wants to significantly increase starting pay - although its offer would do so by reducing other benefits to future cops during their first five years on the job - promises clearly haven't been enough to overcome the sticker-shock prospective candidates get when they look at the current entry pay of $25,100. The loan program is a tangible way to deal with their reluctance, as well as a signal that the NYPD understands the financial realities they face.

The role money plays in such career decisions can be seen in the surge of applications by Police Officers for the Jan. 19 promotion exam for Sergeant. They are up 23 percent compared to filing a year ago for the February 2007 test, and the only obvious explanation is that since then the Sergeants Benevolent Association reached a contract that boosted starting pay in the rank by better than 19 percent effective next summer.

Mr. Kelly can't force a contract settlement with the PBA, but he's done what he can with this program to give would-be candidates a sense that the department has more to offer than its currently sorry starting rate.