To Attract Recruits:
NYPD Offers $15G Student Loan Help
By REUVEN BLAU

In an effort to bolster its ranks and stem the tide of resignations, the NYPD Oct. 22 announced a new college loan reimbursement program offering new recruits up to $15,000 over five years funded by the city's Police Foundation.

RAYMOND W. KELLY: A key recruiting tool.

The creation of the program, which will start with the January 2008 class, is designed to enhance the NYPD's ability to recruit and retain qualified candidates.

Average $16G Debt

Under the plan, police officers will be eligible for the maximum of $15,000 each over five years to reduce or eliminate their college loan burdens. A survey of recent recruit classes indicated that the new officers carried an average college loan debt of $16,000, according to the NYPD.

"We have been seeking ways to augment our recruitment efforts and to financially assist new recruits upon graduation from the Police Academy. We're confident that this new reimbursement program does both," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said. "There's no more pressing issue facing the Department today than attracting qualified candidates to the Police Academy."

The low starting salary of $25,100 for officers during their first six months of training - which has been in effect for cops hired beginning in 2006 under a Patrolmen's Benevolent Association arbitration award issued the previous summer - has had an impact on both recruitment efforts and the ability to keep officers.

The department is currently a couple of thousand officers below its authorized headcount. And the current Police Academy class, which began short, has suffered an unusually high attrition rate, with 18 percent of the 924 rookies who began training in July having already dropped out by mid-September.

Casino developer Richard Fields donated $1.5 million to launch the loan program. Adam R. Rose, who works in real estate, Merrill Lynch and others have made additional contributions to the growing fund, the NYPD said.

Paid in 5 Installments

The NYC Police Foundation will manage and administer the loan program. The loans will be paid out in five annual installments to the lending institutions of candidates who have outstanding loans, with the first payment to be made upon graduation from the Police Academy, the NYPD said.

To stay eligible for the reimbursement, candidates must remain with the department in good standing for a minimum of five years. While the first awards will be distributed in June when the January 2008 class graduates from the Police Academy, the process of promoting the program and identifying qualified candidates will begin immediately, according to the NYPD.

More information about the program can be obtained by calling the foundation at 212-751-8170.

"This is an important inducement for women and men to come forward and join the ranks of the New York City Police Department at a moment of tremendous opportunity and need," said Foundation Chair Valerie Salembier, who is also publisher of Harper's Bazaar.

Foundation's Other Roles

The Police Foundation raises money from private businesses for the NYPD and finances the department's cadre of detectives assigned overseas. The group is an independent, non-profit organization established in 1971 by business and civic leaders.

The Foundation also sponsors programs such as the Real Time Crime Center, Crime Stoppers Hotline, and the International Liaison Program, in addition to sponsoring specialized counterterrorism training, stress and trauma counseling for police officers.

The group is seeking additional donations. Checks should be made out to the NYC Police Foundation and mailed to the Foundation headquarters at 345 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10154.