Cops got a FAT Raise (Union, Hope: salary, legal, vs.)

[SouthQueens149]

Originally Posted by MottHavenDude

I made no such assertion, I was repeating other people's beliefs that a 4 year degree is pointless...I disagree..I think it is necessary for the force (and I have already spoken to that). I KNOW the target pool of NYC recruits will go gangbusters over this new salary...the NYC labor market could care less. These kids from the public schools are salivating at the new salary.....and you will see lots of them entering the force...nothing will change...it will just be more of the same applicants but now they will be motivated by greed, adding to the dysfunction of the police force. It is very unfortunate.

The salary was raise by about 11K. 11K raise doesn't get you from having recruitment problems with a 60 college credit requirement to being able to require a Bachelors Degree. That's ridiculous.

$45,000 is a good salary out of school for NYC...

If private sector salaries are so low for people with a 4 yr degree, why couldn't the NYPD recruit over the last few months offering 80K after 5 1/2 yrs? I mean 80K is better than 45K, right? So why did the NYPD have problems recruiting?

[Moderate Guy]

Originally Posted by SouthQueens149

The salary was raise by about 11K. 11K raise doesn't get you from having recruitment problems with a 60 college credit requirement to being able to require a Bachelors Degree. That's ridiculous.



If private sector salaries are so low for people with a 4 yr degree, why couldn't the NYPD recruit over the last few months offering 80K after 5 1/2 yrs? I mean 80K is better than 45K, right? So why did the NYPD have problems recruiting?

Well here we're comparing private sector @ 45k today vs police @ 80k in 5.5 years.

[SouthQueens149]

Originally Posted by MottHavenDude

Southqueens...have you ever worked in the private sector? That college degree in NYC is worth a HS degree these days....everyone has one and it is a given....not a premium. If you think the typical college graduate is making $60K out of school in NYC...you don't know the market. $45,000 is a good salary out of school for NYC...with no guarantees of any future raises at all, unlike the guaranteed almost $100,000 after 5 years with the NYPD. Furthemore, you seem to believe that the average cop with a 4 years degree is choosing between being an Investment Banker and being a cop....what a joke! You are living in an alternate universe surrounded by Unionized labor....come back to reality.

If this were true, I would be ALL FOR a Bachelors Degree. Heck I would be stumping for cops to have PhD's!!!!!

Why? SIMPLE ECONOMICS!!!! Supply and Demand. The higher the education requirements, the fewer eligible candidates applying. If the NYPD required a PhD (hypothetically speaking) they would have to offer A LOT more to the Labor Market to attract people with this education level in the numbers they need to staff the NYPD.

Again, you juts gave cops an 11K raise over 4 yrs (65K * 17%= 11K) That doesn't get you from recruiting problems at 80K w/ a 60 college credit requirement to thousands upon thousands of College Grads breaking the door down at 91K.

As the economy worsens (and I think it will) that will further increase applications to Civil Service Jobs like the NYPD, but when the economy gets better, this trend slows down.

[NooYowkur81]

Originally Posted by SouthQueens149

The salary was raise by about 11K. 11K raise doesn't get you from having recruitment problems with a 60 college credit requirement to being able to require a Bachelors Degree. That's ridiculous.



If private sector salaries are so low for people with a 4 yr degree, why couldn't the NYPD recruit over the last few months offering 80K after 5 1/2 yrs? I mean 80K is better than 45K, right? So why did the NYPD have problems recruiting?

Simple, it was a tough job with ridiculously a low starting salary. Now its a tough job with a much better salary.

[SouthQueens149]

Originally Posted by Miles

Well here we're comparing private sector @ 45k today vs police @ 80k in 5.5 years.

80K is still higher. And like MHDude pointed out 'with no guarantees of any future raises at all." So why did the NYPD have recruiting problems w/ a 60 college credit req.?

If 80K wasn't getting the NYPD enough applicants with 60 college credits, do you think 91K salary will attract enough applicants with Bachelor Degrees?

[NooYowkur81]

A lot of the better finance/wall street jobs require Masters degrees, connections, or at the very least a Bachelors from a very highly regarded school.

For the rest of us, it's extremely competitive and you have to really pay your dues. Plus the economy is bad right now and the job market is slow. Job security is much better at NYPD. Heck I caught myself thinking about joining the NYPD a couple times today, lol.

Also its not all glamour and easy schedules even for those that make big bank. They work all kinds of crazy hours. South, you seem very unfamiliar with the way Private sector works. No offense.

[SouthQueens149]

Originally Posted by NooYowkur81

Simple, it was a tough job with ridiculously a low starting salary. Now its a tough job with a much better salary.

The starting salary went from 35K to about 42K. That isn't Bachelor Degree better. BUt hey, write the mayor and knock yourselves out with that whole Bachelor's degree stuff.

NYC just took a big step getting out from behind the 8-ball with recruiting cops, now some want to go and make sure that this is thrown away.

Why don't we at least wait and see if the city brings back the $35 filing fee and see how many people are willing to pay to take the NYPD test? The fee has been waived for about ten yrs now. The city brought it back in 2003 and had all of 3,200 applicants for that test--so they promptly went back to waiving it again.

Lets wait and see if the filing fee returns and how many people show up. That will give everyone an indication of how strong the interest is in being a NYC cop.

[NooYowkur81]

Recruiting will go up by a lot just give it time. It would have gone up with the previous agreement. There is just a stigma at the moment.

[SouthQueens149]

Originally Posted by NooYowkur81

A lot of the better finance/wall street jobs require Masters degrees, connections, or at the very least a Bachelors from a very highly regarded school.

For the rest of us, it's extremely competitive and you have to really pay your dues. Plus the economy is bad right now and the job market is slow. Job security is much better at NYPD. Heck I caught myself thinking about joining the NYPD a couple times today, lol.

Also its not all glamour and easy schedules even for those that make big bank. They work all kinds of crazy hours. South, you seem very unfamiliar with the way Private sector works. No offense.

Most of my private sector friends and family have home offices and can do some work form home, but they have their crazy times when they have to work late and even weekends. But they get bonuses and they usually work 8 hrs a day, weekends and nights off. Their offices are also A LOT nicer than any Pct. LOL

Many cops go to the private sector after they do their twenty. The biggest adjustment they say is that they don't get as many days off as they used to, but they really like their new offices and the social freedom that comes with most private sector jobs. You miss a lot of birthdays and even weddings and other events working as a cop and you can't ever get those lost moments/memories back.

NooYowkur, could you join for 2-3 yrs and see how you like it? I mean is that an option for you? If so, come aboard....In case you haven't heard, we just got a new raise LOL

Seriously though, think about it.

[Moderate Guy]

We can keep on comparing private sector to police officer salaries and jobs till kingdom come, the facts are that the NYPD has a serious public relations issue, is lowering its requirements for one to be a cop, and has not been offering good packages until this recent deal came out.

To be fair, even though the average starting with a bachelor's is in the 40's in the private sector with no guarntee of raises, one normally gets a raise and/or bonus and/or some other compensation enhancement.

Likewise the new package to officers - starting salary and amounts after 5.5 years is nothing to sneeze at. But I ask you, if we are clamoring for better cops don't we have to pay for that? Does one get a better pizza, a better home, a better car by paying less?

Can we not offer cops a decent salary - so what if it compares with or surpasses private sector sometimes? How many in the private sector risk their lives punching in everyday?

Once again, I recommend a several-prong approach - increase compensation, weed out the bad guys/stop recruiting the bad guys/increase training, not merely with an undergard degree specificallly but with training in the academy; with lectures on sensitivity training, cultural exposure, courtesy and professionalism, ethics and social responsibility, specific lectures by renowned experts in their field that it is a CRIME for a cop to use a badge and gun to harass the public, that he/she exists to serve the public just like any other civil servant and the list goes on. This type of extended training before graduation is probably superior to a bachelor's degree as the minimum requirement.