Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Police Recruit Drop-Outs Raise Concerns
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 15, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 15, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
About 14% of new police recruits have dropped out of the latest Police Academy class of over 1,000 recruits, and some are worried that the city's crimefighting programs will be hurt. Notably, "Operation Impact," which Police Commissioner Ray Kelly credit withs helping decrease crime by 25-30% by concentrating cops in those "impact areas" may be without more police officers. Kelly blames the attrition partly on the low starting salary of $25,100.
Indeed, many police recruits find themselves scraping by. Still, Kelly said, "Most of the attrition does happen early on, which is in the first month two months of the class and that's what happened in this class. So we'll have to wait and see as we get closer to the graduation date as to whether or not we'll be able to field a full impact contingent."
However, the Patrolman's Benevolent Association believes that the starting salaries aren't even half the problem. PBA president Patrick Lynch told WCBS 2, "Top pay for NYPD is $59,000. Suffolk County is $100,000, 80,000 in Nassau County." Outside of the city, starting and top pay for police officers is much higher, not to mention usually less stressful, and that has led to many NYC police officers to apply for jobs in the suburbs.
As it happens, today the Daily News has an editorial that actually blames Lynch for undermining police pay and the bringing police recruiting to such a low, by forcing the police pay negotiations with the city to go through arbitration (other municipal unions have dealt with the Bloomberg administration directly and gotten favorable deals).
Photograph of the police station in Times Square by lachance on Flickr
Tagged
As
benevolent association
bloomberg
commissioner ray kelly
crime
daily news
flickr
jobs
nassau county
news
News: NYC
nyc
nypd
operation impact
patrick Lynch
photos
police
Police Academy
police commissioner
police commissioner ray kelly
Ray Kelly
salary
suburbs
suffolk county
the city
The Police
Times Square
wcbs
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani must redo his pied-à-terre tax rollout, NY judge orders
A Staten Island judge ruled against the city in a lawsuit challenging the rollout of the new tax, a day after a billionaire casino mogul sued to invalidate it.
By
David Brand
Published Sep 29, 2026 at 4:11 p.m. ET
Modified Sep 29, 2026 at 5:07 p.m. ET
NYC eyes higher fines for owners of dirty vacant lots, abandoned construction sites
The sanitation department seeks to increase the fines for landlords who neglect their abandoned lots from $100 to $250.
By
Liam Quigley
News
NYC eyes higher fines for owners of dirty vacant lots, abandoned construction sites
The sanitation department seeks to increase the fines for landlords who neglect their abandoned lots from $100 to $250.
By
Liam Quigley
NJ Gov. Sherrill vetoes 2 bills meant to give strapped Jersey City more revenue tools
By
Michael Sol Warren
Brooklyn residents displaced after facade falls off neighboring building amid nor'easter
By
Catalina Gonella
Mamdani opts not to define antisemitism in report to combat Jewish hate crimes
By
Elizabeth Kim
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .