Federal Funds To Allow Hiring Of 128 More Cops

RAYMOND W. KELLY: Concerns addressed by TSA.

The NYPD June 25 received funding to hire 128 new Police Officers as part of the Federal stimulus deal brokered by U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer.

The agreement with the NYPD and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration will allow the department to hire those officers and promote more-experienced officers to bolster the department's elite anti-terror units. The bill was originally written to allow only for the hiring of new officers to work in anti-terror units.

Persuaded TSA to Be Flexible

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly raised significant concerns about the limitations of the original wording of the bill. Mr. Schumer asked the TSA to interpret their rules to allow the NYPD to use the money to hire new officers, place them in other units and then promote more experienced officers to the anti-terror teams. "The purpose of this program as part of the recovery act is to both create jobs and beef up security—this agreement ensures the money goes to accomplish just that," Mr. Schumer said.

The NYPD's chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said the July Police Academy class, which is scheduled to have 250 cadets, would not be increased because the funding has not been finalized yet. When the cops are hired, they will work in the subways exclusively but will not be restricted to counterterrorism duties. A spokesman for Senator Schumer, Josh Vlasto, said that the money should be available in a few weeks.

This funding is in addition to the more-than 200 cops who are expected to be hired through the Federal COPS program, which provides funding for new beat officers nationwide. That funding also has yet to be finalized.

A Declining Headcount

Budgetary problems have caused the city to shrink the two Police Academy classes this year to 250 cadets from a norm of more than 1,000 recruits. The retrenching is expect to bring the uniformed headcount down to 33,217 by next year, according to an estimate by the Independent Budget Office. The NYPD reached a high of 41,000 cops in 2001.

Mr. Schumer said of funding for more cops, "This deal is a win-win for the NYPD and all the residents of New York City who the NYPD works so hard to keep safe and secure."

Mr. Schumer also announced that the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations has included $10 million in new funding for protecting the city from the threat of a makeshift nuclear device or a radiological dispersal device, also known as a dirty bomb. This funding comes on top of more than $73 million already invested in the program.