Most people agree that the NYPD has done a really good job. But with the contract for police officers now going to arbitration, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association wants us to think we’ve had a good deal. That isn’t necessarily so. In fact, we’ve paid a huge price for the level of police protection we have received, according to local government data from governments division of the U.S. Census Bureau – even if the police officers, on average, haven’t received a big paycheck.
In Fiscal 2004, this source reports, the City of New York spent $11.01 on police protection for every $1,000 of its residents’ personal income. The City, therefore, had to collect about 1.1% of our income in taxes to pay for it. The national average was $6.21 in police spending per $1,000 of personal income, requiring local taxes of about 0.6% of income. The rest of New York state, and New Jersey, were about average. For New York City residents, the NYPD costs one out of every $200 they earn MORE than they would have to pay if they lived elsewhere. And the city’s spending on correction, at $3.70 per $1,000 of personal income, was nearly double the national average as well.