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PBA Gains Not Enough

To the Editor:

The $10,000-plus raise (retroactive to 2004) for new Police Officers is important because it breaks parity with other city departments, and that has always been an important goal of the NYPD.

However, the reduction from 20 to 10 vacation days for the first five years on the job is really counterproductive, since most cops will still have to work two jobs just to make ends meet. Cutting vacation days in half will force the most financially desperate cops to spend virtually all of their free time working to pay the bills. This was the wrong way for the city to save money, and even with the raise, the cops are still grossly underpaid.

This contract is already two years old, only going to 2006, so the NYPD's battles with Mayor Bloomberg will probably continue right up until he leaves office. The perseverance and determination of the PBA and the Police Officers of the NYPD can be partially traced all the way back to the infamous "double zeroes" given to the cops by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1995. That slimy double-cross by Giuliani (who had promised cops fair raises) was sure to cost this city much more than the money saved at the time.

Those New Yorkers who begrudge the cops a fair salary will deserve what they get with a less-effective Police Department in the future, primarily due to the necessity of hiring less-qualified applicants to fill the ranks of the department. This contract is not nearly good enough to attract good people, and the public will soon see the heavy price it will pay for the shortsighted policies of our five-billion dollar tightwad of a mayor.

MICHAEL J. GORMAN

Editor's note: The writer is a retired NYPD Lieutenant and an attorney.