I find it ridiculous that at a time when some other types of spending are finally being scrutinized for the value we are getting, the NYPD is being given a pass. Yes the ranks of officers are down, but as the data in the spreadsheet attached to this post show,New York City had 2 ½ times the national average number of police officers relative to population in March 2007. This in a city where the crime rate was about average. The average NYC police office earned 35.1% more than the national average that month (a figure that used to be low in NYC), while the average NYC private sector worker earned 32.3% more than average if finance is excluded, a figure likely lower today. New York City police officers contribute far less to their own pensions than police officers elsewhere. In New Jersey, the police had been contributing 7 ½ percent of their salaries to the pensions, compared with zero in New York City, and the New Jersey figure is almost certainly going up. Communities in New Jersey have been contributing zero to the pensions, a ripoff for the cops, whereas in New York City police wages are topped off by an employer pension contribution of more than 50.0% and going up, a ripoff by the cops. The NYC police retire after 20 years, with gold plated health care for life, and their pensions are not taxed. Add it up and NYC residents, who pay just about the highest taxes in the U.S. as a share of their income, paid 67.0% more for police than the national average as a share of that income in FY 2006, as can be seen in the spreadsheet attached to this post, a figure that is almost certainly higher today and higher still tomorrow. Because while the number of police officers can be cut, the far higher cost of ex-officers never is.
And now, the NYPD and PBA are saying that if their staffing levels fall to, say, a mere double the national average, they are going to retaliate by allowing us to be robbed, raped and killed. Just as Local 1199 and the Greater New York Hospital Association claim that if Medicaid spending doesn’t go up each year by as much as they want, they’ll let our babies die. Just as the UFT, now that a massive shift of resources from the classroom to the retired is underway due to the 25/55 pension deal, will claim they have no obligation to provide an education. But in the case of the police, the News and Post, instead of making demands, say we’ll just have to give the police whatever they say they want. Why?
Perhaps the self-interest of those writing the editorials. As I have discussed here previously the Executive Caste, those writing the editorials, don’t rely on public parks (other than those funded by private donations), public libraries, public schools (other than the over-funded schools in the suburbs, which are never criticized) or certainly public hospitals. They just don’t want to pay taxes so those less well off, who can’t afford private health clubs, their own private library, private schools or a suburban residence, and travel by black car, can have them. But they are worried about getting mugged. So like the suburban schools, and benefits and tax exemptions for senior citizens, police spending seemingly cannot be questioned.
Meanwhile, the only other group with power in our state is the Political Caste, which wants to become better off relative to the people who don’t matter by providing inferior services at inflated tax levels. No, it doesn’t matter that the majority of the police officers, teachers, firefighters, etc. want to do right by people. The unions represent the lowest common denominator, the goldbricks and those looking to retire as soon as possible and never do anything for anyone else ever again, as I explained here. And most of those who matter live in the suburbs.
For the News and Post, it seems, it’s about people like us and people like them. So while they might be willing to say, legitimately, that the TWU is being unfair for insisting on two-man subway crews we can’t afford at all times on all lines (while not questioning commuter rail staffing), they are unwilling to say the PBA is being unfair for insisting on two officer patrols at all times in all neighborhoods. And as for what NYC police officers are paid, it was the union’s decision to shift most of what New York City pays from those working to those not working – early retirement. It was the union’s decision to continually increase the total pay of police officers cashing in and moving out by pension enhancements they push through the NY state legislature, while cutting the pay and benefits of future police officers. All the unions do the same thing, which I absolutely oppose on both ends. It’s morally wrong, and will lead to a degradation of public services.
How much are NYC police officers paid? Including the average 40 years of being paid (tax free) to do nothing while receiving city funded health care, NYPD personnel costs totaled $7,834 billion in FY 2010, this document estimates on page 48. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of full time equivalent NYC police workers totaled 50,128 in March 2008, including 46,460 officers. That is an average of $156,000 per police employee in NYC including the lower paid non-officers. Which is one hell of a lot more than I make. Do I resent it? No. But I do resent the police saying that they are no longer willing to protect me – and the News and Post being unwilling to call them on it.
New York City can afford overpaying or overstaffing, perhaps, but not both at the same time. When I first started compiling this data, NYC Cops were underpaid in cash. New officers are still underpaid in cash – the union’s choice once again – and may not be as good as they used to be –even later when their pay and benefits soar. Which is apparently PBA policy.
And by the way, Executive Caste at the News and Post, during the past 20 years when we have had an army in blue to protect us from the poor, uneducated people who commit street crimes, there was no attempt to protect us from the rich people who commit white collar crime – during one of the biggest white collar crime waves in our history. Maybe street crime is down because the poor members of Generation Greed are too old to mug, but the wealthy members of Generation Greed have taken power in the executive suite – and the state legislature.
As for the Nassau and Suffolk County cops, their pay level is so high that the right policy might be for the state to dissolve those organizations in favor of new ones, with fairer contracts, at the town level.
So if the News and Post won’t say so, I will. We need more productivity out of the NYPD and PBA. It is the only way we can afford them. Free up resources by going to one-officer patrols during the day in most of the city, excluding high crime neighborhoods. Will that mean fewer officers in seniority posts where they have in effect retired at age 35 after 13 years? Sure, but sorry we can’t afford it. Ever see the TV show Cops on Fox 5? Then you know that one-officer patrols are the norm just about everywhere in the U.S., even at night, even in relatively dangerous neighborhoods. When there is an incident, the individual officers converge on it. Hey Murdock, watch your own show! Even Bill Bratton, after he had moved on, said the staffing levels at the NYPD should be lower now that crime is lower.
And the Brownies, Park Police, Sanitation Police, etc. should be merged into one “Department of Civil Enforcement” for non-criminal matters, with its officers cross-trained and paid according to how many ordinances they can enforce in what detail. Hey Albany, we can’t afford to pay police officers to give traffic tickets anymore, neither can we afford to have police officers directing traffic or supervising parades. Having someone in their last year on the job doing so on overtime could inflate pension costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Including 40 years of a richer pension, those police on seniority duty at the parades could be costing $2,000 per hour or more.
Even in a budget crisis, the unsaid never gets said, and those with the best deals never get challenged. Enough is enough. I'm in no mood to hear excuses from anyone, given the non-decisions and deals made by others for 20 years.