DC 37 Local 1549 and Council Member Vallone insist: “It’s criminal to keep cops behind a desk and not on the street.”

Call for civilianization of 500 NYPD positions to strengthen patrol

On April 18th, Local 1549,  DC 37 and its locals join City Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr., Chair of the Public Safety Committee, to urge the NYPD to support the civilianization of 500 NYC Police Dept. positions and stop assigning thousands of able-bodied uniformed police personnel to clerical-administrative desk jobs. They will call for 500 positions in the NYPD currently held by regular-duty uniformed members to be assigned to lower-paid civilians in order for the officers to be reassigned to patrol and enforcement.

NYPD’s headcount is at a 20-year low with 34,400 police officers citywide – with incoming police classes unable even to cover attrition rates, crime has inched up in several categories and seven officers have been shot in a 4-month period.  DC 37 has won three landmark arbitrator’s decisions since 2004 directing the NYPD to replace uniformed officers occupying clerical positions with civilians. The NYPD’s longstanding decline in patrol strength plus the heightened need for security underscore the importance of implementing civilianization. 

Civilianization is a term coined by the U.S. Justice Department. It refers to the staffing within a Police Dept. of essential clerical-administrative duties with civilians thereby releasing full-duty Police Officers from clerical-administrative duties, so that Police Officers can go on patrol to fight crime in New York City’s communities.

According to the NYC Independent Budget Office, replacing 500 NYPD Officer positions with less costly civilian personnel would have saved as much as $16.5 million annually in FY 2012. While civilianization would require $10 million in civilian salaries, it would also significantly reduce the need for overtime spending – budgeted for $418 million for FY2013.

Council Member Vallone said, “Civilianization is the best way to immediately get more cops on the street. Every single officer on patrol makes a difference. Our police officers have received top-notch training, carry expensive equipment and joined the noble ranks of the NYPD to protect and serve, not file and answer phones.”

DC 37 Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez says civilianization could also help solve both the budget and personnel problems. “We have documented as many as 3,500 civilian positions that are being occupied by uniformed officers.” 

District Council 37 is New York City’s largest public employee union, with 121,000 members and 50,000 retirees.