Pay Pales in Comparisons
NYPD Tough Sell at Job Fair

By MIA GOLDBERG

At the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Job Fair last week, something didn't fit: the starting salary for city cops compared to their counterparts across the nation.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James 'LOOKING TO GET OUT': John Roberts said he has set his law-enforcement sights on jobs far from New York because 'the cost of living is too high and the salaries aren't as competitive.'

As the result of a 2005 arbitration award that gutted the pay scale for rookies, the entry salary for an NYPD officer is $25,100. It jumps to $32,700 when they graduate from the Police Academy after six months, and tops out at $59,588 after 5-1/2 years.

In Dallas, recruits can make $42,890, with a $10,000 bonus after the first year on the job.

"Salary has been a big importance for a lot of people. Everybody wants to make a decent living and live comfortably," said Dallas P.D. Senior Corporal Zina Kaiser. "What we have to offer gets them where they want to go."

Psychic Satisfaction

What does the NYPD offer? "It feels good," said Angel Galindo of the Police Cadet Corps. "This isn't just any job. Not everyone can do it, and you don't do it to be a millionaire."

But the "Pride Before Paycheck" approach wasn't quite cutting it for many of those attending the fair.

"I'm looking to get out," said New Yorker John Roberts, a first-year graduate student "The cost of living is too high and the salaries aren't as competitive." He plans to go out West or down to Florida. In Fort Lauderdale, he'd start at $42,870.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James DO YOU KNOW THE PAY IN SAN JOSE? San Jose Police Lieut. George Beattie (right), a former NYPD cop, offers easy selling points to a recruit at the John Jay College Job Fair: better job conditions, nicer weather, and starting and maximum salaries that currently exceed those here by more than $40,000.

"The NYPD used to be the premier police department for those following their passion into law-enforcement. Unfortunately, today, uncompetitive top pay has made it the police department of last resort so we can no longer compete to get the best and the brightest," said Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch in a written statement.

The PBA's frustration is compounded because recruits don't have to look far beyond the city to find far more generous compensation. In Suffolk County, an officer's starting salary is $57,800 and goes to $97,950 after five years. It will take some patience to reap those benefits, though.

"We have no hiring needs for three years," said Suffolk Police Officer Kathy Waithe. "We always get a lot of interest from these fairs, wherever we go." Suffolk's police department is so popular, there is a waiting list just to take the next entrance exam, in 2011. By comparison, the number of applicants who took the NYPD exam in February plummeted by 20 percent from a year earlier. But for years city officials have banked on the relatively few openings on the Nassau and Suffolk forces to limit defections from the NYPD's ranks.

He's Seen Both Sides

Lieut. George Beattie, a 20-year veteran of the San Jose Police Department, has a unique perspective on the situation: He was an NYPD officer from 1983 until 1987.

Although he left for personal, not financial reasons, he said, "I don't have to tell you why I didn't come back. It's a whole different type of policing. It's a better quality of life, and it's great weather. Those men and women from the NYPD work in much more extreme conditions. I mean, more than just the weather," he joked. "The volume of calls to service that they handle are much more than what we do. My heart goes out to them." And, the starting salary in San Jose is $70,000 and top pay is $108,000.

"There is a tremendous demand for police all around the country, and that's going to continue," said Mr. Beattie, who was amazed at how poorly this city's "Finest" were being paid in comparison.

"I just hope they realize what they are up against."