Budget cuts have forced the NYPD to dramatically shrink its ranks while 300 officers, without badges or guns, continue to collect pay checks.
By 2012, the NYPD will have fewer officers in uniform then at any time since 1992, when the crime rate in New York City was sky-high.
CITY MORGUE STAFF MAY BE CUT TO THE BONE
“Crime statistics show there is a breaking point, and we’re at it,” declared City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee. “We can’t absorb any more public safety cuts.”
The Queens Democrat described the latest figures as worrisome. Vallone said that when he goes to community meetings these days, people complain that they no longer see police on the beat or on bicycles.
“If every community has noticed that, you can be sure the criminals have noticed,” he argued.
NYPD manpower typically increases every July 1, the start of the fiscal year, when new recruits come on the job.
But this week, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly raised doubts whether he’d be able to maintain the schedule this year because of a new round of citywide budget cuts that will require the NYPD to come up with an extra $101.4 million in savings from its $4.5 billion budget.
The force is supposed to reach 35,367 on July 1, 2012. But that depends on Kelly being able to hire 540 recruits next month, 900 in July and 630 in January.
Adding to the uncertainty are plans to cut 350 civilian positions to save $30 million in 2012. The IBO said that would likely impact patrol strength.
DAVID SEIFMAN, New York Post
