They're known as 'New York's Finest,' but their starting pay isn't. Newly hired sanitation workers, Central Park gardeners and plumbing inspectors make more than the $25,100 annual salary earned by rookie officers at the nation's largest police department. The compensation is so low that it has hurt recruitment and become the latest symbol of a bitter labor battle. The New York Police Department's entry-level pay is 'bizarre,' Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly conceded at a recent city council hearing. Officials with the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association agree. But who's to blame for the meager pay remains in dispute even as the city and union await an arbitration panel's decision on a new contract.
See "NYPD Bemoans Paltry Pay for Rookies", Associated Press, The New York Times, February 18, 2007