Took my father-in-law to a lecture luncheon at the U. Club this afternoon featuring NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. A great speech and Commissioner Kelly deserves a ton of respect. He is the only person to hold the position of Police Commissioner for 2 nonconsecutive tenures and is, to date, the only person to hold every rank in the NYPD. This on top of a career in the Marine Corps (including service in Vietnam) and Commissioner of the Customs Service, among many other impressive posts. He is a true American hero who has devoted his life to public service.
The speech was great and very detailed - he certainly has a command of the relevant statistics. Was impressed to learn how active the NYPD is in assisting combat, and learning from, global terrorism with task forces sent to global hotspots; in the case of the Madrid bombing THAT DAY. I was also particularly impressed by the depth of language experience in the NYPD's counterterrorism group, which makes sense given NYC's multicultural makeup. Commissioner Kelly said that the language skills extend to colloquial "street language" and not just an academic understanding. So much so, the NYPD has been brought in to consult with Federal agencies.
However, he made a point to bring up the disturbing fact that, due to union pressures, starting salaries for new NYPD recruits have been dropped from $40,000 a year, to $25,000 and it is negatively affecting recruiting efforts. This is not good for the long term. He said the Department was examining ways to address this, but this is a pretty discouraging fact. There must be a way for a very grateful New York populace to address this... However...
I left feeling very encouraged about New York City's safety and those charged with defending it.
This picture is from last year's Manhattan College De La Salle dinner dance at the Waldorf when I first met Commissioner Kelly.
1 comment:
as your union member bro-in-law, i have to clarify that it wasn't union pressure. it was bad arbitration.
from a local ny paper:
Kelly blamed the salary plunge on a state arbitrator and said it will hurt recruitment; yesterday's class of 1,121 applied before the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association contract was settled last year.
"I lay this squarely at the feet of the arbitrator," said Kelly, who added that 63% of the new class lives in the city. "It's just simply bad public policy to reduce the starting salary by $15,000."
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