City To Delay Hiring Of 540 Police Officers

Some City Council members fear the city could become less safe this year, now that Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration is postponing this month’s hiring of hundreds of New York City Police Department recruits until July.

The head of the city council’s public safety committee, Queens Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., is fuming.

“This class was the cavalry over the hill for our severely depleted force,” said Vallone.

On Tuesday, Vallone, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Domenic Recchia, the chair of the Finance Committee, sent a scathing letter to the mayor. The council members complained that they approved the budget for the academy class and were not consulted about the delay and the public was not involved.

“The police department or any of our first responders should not be cut, should never be cut,” said Vallone. “We can’t have an economic recovery without it being built on the bedrock of a safe city.”

The police union agreed, saying the class’ delay compromises public safety and puts current officers at greater risk.

The mayor’s office countered, saying in a statement, “The last three years were the three safest in New York City’s history, and crime is down again this year.”

City Hall said the April police academy class of 540 will be combined with the scheduled July class of 900, for a total of 1,440 recruits.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said he knows every city agency has to face budget issues.

”We would like to hire as many people as possible. But we understand there is a lot of uncertainty right now,“ said Kelly. ”We know the mayor is committed to seeing that the police department is protected as much as possible from the budget situation we find ourselves in.”

If the July class starts as scheduled, the rookie officers would hit the streets at the end of the year, after six months of training.

The city says anyone eligible for the April class will still be eligible in July.