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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 082-06
March 21, 2006

MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND POLICE COMMISSIONER KELLY ANNOUNCE EXPANSION OF THE NYPD BY 1,200 MEMBERS

800 New Hires and Civilianization of 400 Administrative Jobs Will Put 1,200 More Officers on the Street – the Largest City Funded Increase of the NYPD since 1993

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly today were joined by City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Chair of the Public Safety Committee Council Member Peter F. Vallone to announce plans to expand the New York City Police Department (NYPD) by 1,200 members, the largest City-funded expansion of the NYPD since the implementation of the Safe City/Safe Streets program. This will strengthen the City's efforts to drive down crime across the City and in the Impact Zones, take illegal guns off our streets and provide additional resources for counter-terrorism and intelligence initiatives. Of the NYPD's 1,200 new members, 800 will be uniformed Police Officers and 400 will be civilians who will take over the administrative duties currently performed by uniformed officers, freeing them for re-assignment on patrols.

"Over the past four years, even with a reduced number of Police Officers, we've cut crime by nearly 25 percent - something no one ever imagined possible," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Now, we're determined to lock in those gains and drive crime down even further. Public safety is the foundation of our City's success. Deploying an additional 1,200 officers on our City streets is a smart investment that will prevent more crimes, improve our quality of life, and help us continue making the safest big city in America even safer."

"The addition of 800 Police Officers and 400 civilians to free even more officers for patrol gives the Police Department the kind of flexibility it needs to continue its success on many fronts, including conventional crime suppression, counter-terrorism, and quality of life enforcement," said Police Commissioner Kelly.

"Today's significant increase in New York City's police force will have a powerful impact on making our city safer and more secure," said Council Speaker Quinn. "In addition to deploying 800 new officers, we are also taking 400 current officers from behind desks and putting them on the streets to fight crime. Recognizing that our police force needs to be strengthened in order to sufficiently protect New Yorkers from crime, the Council has called for increases in Police Officers for years. Today, we respond to that need. I'm proud to stand together with Mayor Bloomberg in the announcement of this initiative that will greatly improve the safety of New York's residents."

"This is a giant step in the right direction," said Council Member Vallone. "For years, the NYPD has done more with less, but they were stretched to their limits. Now we get to see what Commissioner Kelly can do with his team at full strength. We already are the safest big city in America, now we're going for the world."

Mayor Bloomberg's Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2007 will include funding to pay for the hiring of 800 new Police Officers and 400 new civilian employees. The first 400 uniformed positions will be added to the new class of recruits that will begin the Police Academy in July, and the second 400 will be added to the class that will begin the Academy in January 2007. The civilians will be hired in two waves - half in December 2006 and half in March 2007.

The cost of adding 1,200 new employees to the Police Department will be $33.8 million in Fiscal Year '07, rising in later years as the Police Officers earn seniority. In Fiscal Year 2010, total costs will exceed $80 million. There is a possibility that the Department of Homeland Security could fund some portion of these new costs, and Mayor Bloomberg announced that the City will pursue that funding aggressively. The 800 new recruits, over the course of their Police Academy training (6 months) and their first six months on the force, will receive an average total cash compensation of $35,000, plus an additional $1,000 uniform allowance. By their sixth year on the force, the average total cash compensation will rise to $72,000, plus an additional $1,000 uniform allowance.

Since 2001, New York City's population has increased by 125,000 residents, and by 2010, another 200,000 people are expected to make New York their home. Between this growing population, a smaller police force than existed prior to 2002, and the continuing threat of terrorism, increasing the number of officers on the streets by 1,200 will ensure that New York City remains the nation's leader in crime prevention.







MEDIA CONTACT:


Stu Loeser/Virginia Lam   (212) 788-2958

Paul Browne   (Police Department)
(646) 610-6700




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