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Does the compensation for LI police need to be so attractive as to draw this type of attention for the job, especially given these tough economic times?
May 22, 2007 With High Pay, L.I. Police Jobs Draw Stampede
By COREY KILGANNON
At John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, as soon as fliers advertising the police academy entrance exams on Long Island are posted, they are routinely ripped down, presumably by applicants for the tests who do not want the word to spread.
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Sickening. Absolutely sickening. There needs to be a freeze on police salaries for a good 10 years in Nassau and Suffolk to make up for this abuse.
Our politicians are to blame (as usual) for allowing these contracts to take place on their watch. Shame on them. The corruption in Long Island politics is probably even worse than the garbage I saw in New Orleans politics when I used to live there.
Sickening. Absolutely sickening. There needs to be a freeze on police salaries for a good 10 years in Nassau and Suffolk to make up for this abuse.
Our politicians are to blame (as usual) for allowing these contracts to take place on their watch. Shame on them. The corruption in Long Island politics is probably even worse than the garbage I saw in New Orleans politics when I used to live there.
The PBA greases pols palms.
The electorate is either too busy or too lazy to pay attention to what is going on.
The people with jobs on the line flock to the polls, the average taxpayer stays home.
Sickening. Absolutely sickening. There needs to be a freeze on police salaries for a good 10 years in Nassau and Suffolk to make up for this abuse.
Our politicians are to blame (as usual) for allowing these contracts to take place on their watch. Shame on them. The corruption in Long Island politics is probably even worse than the garbage I saw in New Orleans politics when I used to live there.
What many fail to realize is that with these "great" starting salaries on Long Island, these recruits have to live in an area where the cost of living is more than twice what it is in 95% of the USA. It's a great salary for Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, etc. A decent home on LI costs mid $300,000's plus taxes of at least $1k a month, electricity rates double & triple what they are elsewhere, among many other factors. So folks shouldn't be so quick to slam these salaries as excessive. They merely enable an officer and his family to have a roof over their heads and pay their bills. Not much more.
What many fail to realize is that with these "great" starting salaries on Long Island, these recruits have to live in an area where the cost of living is more than twice what it is in 95% of the USA. It's a great salary for Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, etc. A decent home on LI costs mid $300,000's plus taxes of at least $1k a month, electricity rates double & triple what they are elsewhere, among many other factors. So folks shouldn't be so quick to slam these salaries as excessive. They merely enable an officer and his family to have a roof over their heads and pay their bills. Not much more.
You apparently didn't read the other police thread.
The Median FAMILY income on Long Island is $72K. Those people making 72K combined ALSO have to live where a decent home costs 350K.
Within 5 years the average Suffolk cop is making BASE pay that is 30K more than that, and most make significantly more than base. And that's just salary. Most people on LI have to pay for their health insurance, cops don't. Most have no pension..they have to fund their retirement on their own, with maybe a 50% employee match into their 401ks...if they are lucky enough to work for decent sized corporation. Cops get a free pension. They get it after 20 years. Most people...if they can ever afford to retire..can't do it until they have been working for 30+ years.
If a cop is struggling to put a roof over their head, imagine what 2 people with 2 kids making 100K combined in private industry have to go through...to have less than the cop whose wife gets to stay home.
That's what's going on on Long Island, Peter. A cop could get paid 60K base and still be better off than most people on LI with the benefits and overtime. Hey..his wife might have to work!!!! How dare we consider that a cop might have to deal with what most people on LI have to.
Maybe cops on the gravy train don't realize what most people on LI get paid? They hear about the builder making millions or the lawyer or doctor...most people on LI are making very modest salaries.
What many fail to realize is that with these "great" starting salaries on Long Island, these recruits have to live in an area where the cost of living is more than twice what it is in 95% of the USA. It's a great salary for Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, etc. A decent home on LI costs mid $300,000's plus taxes of at least $1k a month, electricity rates double & triple what they are elsewhere, among many other factors. So folks shouldn't be so quick to slam these salaries as excessive. They merely enable an officer and his family to have a roof over their heads and pay their bills. Not much more.
Hi Peter, are you a cop? I'm not asking to attack, but merely to find out where you are coming from.
These salaries more than enable the police officers to purchase homes and live on LI. These guys are making well over 100k after only a few years. Most people go to college and grad school and don't make what the police officers make until they have 10-15 years of work experience. That means the police have 10 years of significantly better earning power than their private sector counterparts.
Let's not forget the benefits either the cops get. They do not have to contribute a dime to their retirement. The vast majority of private sector employees must contribute most of their retirement funds, and they are not guaranteed anything.
The police do not pay for healthcare benefits. The private sector and most public sector employees must pay premiums. That's a savings of approximately $6,000 per year that the police have that virtually no one else gets.
Now you add in the time off, which is discussed in detail in the other thread... and this mix creates a compensation package that infuriates many tax payers.
What many fail to realize is that with these "great" starting salaries on Long Island, these recruits have to live in an area where the cost of living is more than twice what it is in 95% of the USA. It's a great salary for Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, etc. A decent home on LI costs mid $300,000's plus taxes of at least $1k a month, electricity rates double & triple what they are elsewhere, among many other factors. So folks shouldn't be so quick to slam these salaries as excessive. They merely enable an officer and his family to have a roof over their heads and pay their bills. Not much more.
The salaries are only the tip of the icebeg. Put a pencil to the cost of the benefits and retirement and total compensation skyrockets. The fact that so many are after so few jobs put an exclamation point on this. Why else would currently employed cops from the outside be willing to uproot and come to LI, giving up tenure, promotions, etc.
If this was just the cost of doing business to maintain safe communities I'd agree, but would a 15% reduction in total contribution cause all of the qualified applicants to dry up?
I understand how you may feel that these salaries are excessive, but do you realize how UNDERPAID NYPD officers are. BTW, a young family starting out in this day and age on Long Island, 100k would not enable a wife to stay home with her children, far from it. Maybe if you bought your house here 10 years ago. But that is not a reality any more. So many families are struggling. It's almost a necessity for two salaries to be coming in just to live a modest lifestyle.
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