Where Police Work Can Pay in NY

These periodic pay reports from NY’s Empire Center (which I help support) are of more than nosy appeal. They chart the upper end of what public employees can stand to make in total compensation, which is a sometimes shocking reminder of how packages negotiated with compliant local officials can put taxpayers at risk. In communities such as those in Suffolk County, tax rates are rising (even with already steep property values as a base) in order to accommodate ballooning pension and health-care benefits. And as this Empire report highlights, “public safety” jobs can be particularly prone to pay escalation. This has ancillary effects, too: New York City is struggling with increased departures from its police force–and many cops have gone to surrounding suburbs with higher salaries and/or easier working environments. Blue-state laws often advantage unionized staff, yet final agreements are reached at the county and town level. (And if a senior officer is hired after already qualifying for a pension after 20 years on another force, as happened in Southampton, N.Y., the double-dipping is somebody else’s problem.) Employee unions often are highly influential in community elections, but residents of the New York municipalities cited in these data should be asking if they are getting the premium returns they are paying for.

What They Make 2024