As New York City buries a second murdered cop in eight days, New York Daily News columnist Michael Daly expresses hope that the most promising young people wishing to follow in the steps of slain officers Dillon Stewart and Daniel Enchautegui are not deterred by the discovery that the starting salary $14,530 less than that of a city gardener. The starting minimum salary of a gardener is $39,630. For a police officer, it’s $25,100. After six months the starting cop salary rises to $32,700, still $6,930 less than that of a gardener. The word for this is “outrageous,” Daly says.
At the time of his death, Stewart had been a cop for five years, which means his base pay was $41,952, or just $2,322 more than the starting pay for a gardener. He supplemented his income by moonlighting, taking him away from his wife and two daughters. Enchautegui died before he had a chance to have a family of his own. He had been a cop for three years, which means his base pay was $38,541, or $1,089 less than the starting salary for a gardener.
Link: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/374845p-318405c.html