Should the nypd get paid more? (Nassau: insurance, crimes, house)

[page3000]

Why or why not?

Do you think 35k is a fair salary for a police officer starting out?
If not, what do you think would be fair?

I can't help but notice that some LAZY ***** MTA workers start off at 17.90/hour and that the NYPD are making just shy of that. Yes, as much as everyone knows my personal feelings about certain individuals in the NYPD. Somehow this dilemma seems corrupt and unfair...and if anything..a bit backwards.

Shoot, even I make more than a police officer. I will wait for some replies to jump in with more of my thoughts.

[Jrock247]

Absolutely they deserve more. Cops in Nassau and suffolk easily make over 100k a year and have a much easier job. If they want to attract a more qualified applicant pool they have to be willing to offer competitive pay.

[page3000]

Originally Posted by Jrock247

Absolutely they deserve more. Cops in Nassau and suffolk easily make over 100k a year and have a much easier job. If they want to attract a more qualified applicant pool they have to be willing to offer competitive pay.

I agree with this. Maybe that is why I have seen a lot of police officers as losers (NO OFFENSE). Well, it makes sense...what kind of caliber of a person can you get that is willing to work for 30-35k starting? Not to say that there aren't good officers..Also.l was speaking to police officers who told me about the Long Island police making soooo much. Why is this? Their job isn't halfway as stressful as the inner city police???? This city is BACKWARDS to my dismay.

[bmwguydc]

For the sake of my opinion, please note that I am not debating whether or not there are good or bad officers on the force. We will assume that they are good, since those are the only ones who can truly be called police officers, in the most accurate sense of the word.

That said, they should be paid more, especially starting out, since the job is one which puts them in a state of danger on a daily basis. To protect NYC is not an easy job, and asking someone to do that for $35k starting is not going to attract some of the candidates that are needed to join the force. Many great officers come out of a sense of public service, even at the low starting wage, but it's something that does need to be addressed.

I am for raising the salary, but also raising the requirements to become and stay an officer. A 2 year degree is fine for starters, but there needs to be a continuing education requirement tailored to police work to continue on the force. This would not be dissimilar to other professions in which one must perform this function to stay licensed.

Along with that, for continung education salary and benefit packages should increase. Completing a bachelors degree would give a step up, a masters another step up, etc., but the degree field should be tailored to the profession such as criminology, law enforcement, psychology, human resources, law, etc. This would provide a mechanism whereby the best career-minded prospects would be recruited and retained. And, this need not be an expensive undertaking either, since the city college system could be utilized for this purpose, say with a benefit of tuition assistance while undertaking the course of study and a full rebate of all tuition paid when the officer meets certain tenure requirements.

Conversely, one need not have to complete extra education requirements if they so chose, just keep current on the continuing education requirement to remain on the force, but for the higher level supervisory and administrative positions, higher education would be necessary to be able to provide a basis from which experience can be added to create a NYPD that's extremely professional and focused.

Largely, the NYPD does a great job protecting the city, and I think that they should be properly compensated for the real danger in which their profession is placed on a daily basis. A higher salary and continuing education would give the force as a whole, and the individual officers, new tools to assist in their daily job, which can benefit us all.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the reason why I would take the education to a level outside departmental training, which would be kept, is to provide for a setting outside the regular NYPD education setting whereby people could interact and exchange ideas.

[MottHavenDude]

I agree that they should be paid more...however, I also agree that with this new pay scale..they are well compensated. Ideally we should have a very highlly skilled, well paid police force. Unfortunately, it seems that we are going towards a well paid, and highly unskilled/chaotic police force.....people harp on salaries alot....but that's not the real problem in the force. When salaries were "good" the same problems we are talking about today were WORSE 30 years ago....all the increases and salary raises in the world will attract people to the money and not much else. Until the culture changes in the force, we will be having this same discussion about the mob-like behavior of too many cops..

[page3000]

Good statement mott's

[SouthQueens149]

Along with that, for continung education salary and benefit packages should increase. Completing a bachelors degree would give a step up, a masters another step up, etc., but the degree field should be tailored to the profession such as criminology, law enforcement, psychology, human resources, law, etc. This would provide a mechanism whereby the best career-minded prospects would be recruited and retained. And, this need not be an expensive undertaking either, since the city college system could be utilized for this purpose, say with a benefit of tuition assistance while undertaking the course of study and a full rebate of all tuition paid when the officer meets certain tenure requirements.

The PBA has been trying to get extra pay for a Bachelors Degree, but the City never seems interested. This is probably the best way to encourage higher education. However, I wouldn't limit the Majors to Criminology and traditional "cop" fields. Accounting can be helpful for those in management who have to manage a budget or an investigator trying to follow a money trail from a drug dealing operation; A cop with a degree in Art can be useful in investigating cases of stolen art and forged art (which could be a Grand Larceny investigation if someone were duped)

If you get into Investigative work, there are all kinds of courses on Insurance Fraud, Sex Crimes, Con games, etc...

[jax78]

Originally Posted by Jrock247

Absolutely they deserve more. Cops in Nassau and suffolk easily make over 100k a year and have a much easier job. If they want to attract a more qualified applicant pool they have to be willing to offer competitive pay.

I totally agree. I think this is one of the reasons there are problems with the NYPD. You're going to get people who don't give a damn, who are corrupt, who aren't smart or efficient because of the pay. The pay is HORRIBLE. I'm not saying all of NYPD are corrupt or not good cops, but the system has problems, and the pay needs to be increased. Yeah, they make more with overtime, but still.

Nassau and Suffolk make way too much IMO. But Long Island taxes are so much higher so the cops get a higher pay..same with teachers.

[jax78]

Originally Posted by page3000

I agree with this. Maybe that is why I have seen a lot of police officers as losers (NO OFFENSE). Well, it makes sense...what kind of caliber of a person can you get that is willing to work for 30-35k starting? Not to say that there aren't good officers..Also.l was speaking to police officers who told me about the Long Island police making soooo much. Why is this? Their job isn't halfway as stressful as the inner city police???? This city is BACKWARDS to my dismay.

It's the taxes. City house taxes are like 1,000-2000. Long Island taxes can be like 8,000- 17,000. It's insane. But the higher taxes give the teachers and the cops higher salaries in LI.

[jax78]

Originally Posted by bmwguydc

For the sake of my opinion, please note that I am not debating whether or not there are good or bad officers on the force. We will assume that they are good, since those are the only ones who can truly be called police officers, in the most accurate sense of the word.

That said, they should be paid more, especially starting out, since the job is one which puts them in a state of danger on a daily basis. To protect NYC is not an easy job, and asking someone to do that for $35k starting is not going to attract some of the candidates that are needed to join the force. Many great officers come out of a sense of public service, even at the low starting wage, but it's something that does need to be addressed.

I am for raising the salary, but also raising the requirements to become and stay an officer. A 2 year degree is fine for starters, but there needs to be a continuing education requirement tailored to police work to continue on the force. This would not be dissimilar to other professions in which one must perform this function to stay licensed.

Along with that, for continung education salary and benefit packages should increase. Completing a bachelors degree would give a step up, a masters another step up, etc., but the degree field should be tailored to the profession such as criminology, law enforcement, psychology, human resources, law, etc. This would provide a mechanism whereby the best career-minded prospects would be recruited and retained. And, this need not be an expensive undertaking either, since the city college system could be utilized for this purpose, say with a benefit of tuition assistance while undertaking the course of study and a full rebate of all tuition paid when the officer meets certain tenure requirements.

Conversely, one need not have to complete extra education requirements if they so chose, just keep current on the continuing education requirement to remain on the force, but for the higher level supervisory and administrative positions, higher education would be necessary to be able to provide a basis from which experience can be added to create a NYPD that's extremely professional and focused.

Largely, the NYPD does a great job protecting the city, and I think that they should be properly compensated for the real danger in which their profession is placed on a daily basis. A higher salary and continuing education would give the force as a whole, and the individual officers, new tools to assist in their daily job, which can benefit us all.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the reason why I would take the education to a level outside departmental training, which would be kept, is to provide for a setting outside the regular NYPD education setting whereby people could interact and exchange ideas.

Good post. I like your ideas.