Not only is the NYPD having trouble getting potential recruits to sit for the entrance exam to the Police Academy, but one in five who gain entrance wind up dropping out or disqualifying themselves before they graduate. The end result is that for the first time in years, fewer than 1,000 were officers were added to the force from a graduating class and the size of the NYPD has shrunk to its smallest number in 15 years.
Commissioner Ray Kelly attributes the falling recruitment and graduation rates to the $25,100 salary that rookies earn their first year on the job--an adjustment that was part of the most recent union negotiations that took effect in 2006. Since then, the rate of dropouts has been increasing with every class.
The City Council is proposing department budget cuts that will result in a further reduction of the size of the police force by 1,000, which is just as well because the low replacement rate by new officers is shrinking the department anyway. Mayor Bloomberg announced late last year that he planned to double the number of cops in Operation Impact, which concentrates mostly new recruits in high crime areas.
Infographic from the NYPost
