They risk their lives every day in the service of New York's citizens. But state troopers — ubiquitous in their blue and gold cruisers on New York's interstate highways — are also well-paid for the job, averaging $112,537 for all ranks in 2010, a Poughkeepsie Journal study of state payroll records shows.
When civilian employees are included in the analysis, the average pay for the agency drops to $98,544.
The six-figure average includes sergeants, majors and all other ranking officers and officials above the starting salary; the state's 2,700 front-line troopers themselves were paid an average $101,574. New York's force is the second-highest earning state-police entity in the country, according to 2009 figures from the Census Bureau, behind first-place New Jersey but ahead of California, Alaska and Delaware.
In the Lower Hudson Valley, state police who worked in Westchester County made an average of $123,280 in 2009 while their colleagues in Rockland County made an average of $117,353. The average pay for a state trooper in Putnam County that year was $105,224.
Pay is a sensitive issue — two state police contracts expired March 31 — as demonstrated by the hot-potato response to salary questions. Union representatives demurred to civil service officials, who in turn referred questions to the Budget Office, which demurred to the state police, who declined to comment.
Through a spokesman, Superintendent Joseph A. D'Amico said it would be "inappropriate" to discuss the "union issue" of pay — and referred questions back to the union.
In a statement, Thomas H. Mungeer, president of the 3,400-member New York State Troopers PBA, said, "T)he job of a New York State trooper is one of the most dangerous law enforcement jobs in the United States. … (They) should be compensated accordingly."
Indeed, the hazards are real. Since 2003, 11 troopers have died in the line of duty — three in shootings, six in automobile crashes and one each from electrocution and a heart attack after a struggle with a suspect.
But given the pay, benefits and wholly state-funded pension of half-salary after 20 years, these are risks many are willing to take. About 15,700 applicants passed the last exam, in 2008, according to a state police recruitment website; since then, just 88 troopers have gone through academy training.
"The question is whether these salaries are necessary to attract the right people for these important jobs," said Robert Ward, deputy director of the Rockefeller Institute, which tracks state fiscal issues. "Most public-sector jobs in New York are highly attractive as evidenced by the number of people applying for them and the rarity of people leaving voluntarily."
A former state police investigator from Millerton insisted the salaries are warranted. "It is important for the state police to attract the best applicants they can," said John Crodelle, a 35-year veteran who retired in 1996, noting that many candidates have four-year degrees (though 60 credits, or two years of college, are required).
"The police job is much more dangerous today than in 1961 when I started," he added. "There are many more high-powered weapons … and the illegal drug problem is much more severe."
1 in 10 chosen
Ten candidates are processed for every trooper vacancy, with many candidates flunking background checks and tests of physical and mental competency. If they pass — and, due to fiscal constraints, no one has been hired since December 2008 — the rewards are clear.
Troopers start their 26 weeks of training at $50,374.
On academy graduation, their salary jumps to $66,905. And after one year, base pay is $71,261. After five years, it's $84,739.
Troopers in this region most likely saw their pay drop in 2010. Although the salaries for that year have not been broken down by county, an analysis shows that total trooper pay statewide decreased last year, particularly in downstate counties. State police in Westchester saw a salary decrease of about $8,000, or 5 percent — the largest loss in any county with significant numbers of troopers. The average salary loss for state police in Rockland was $3,185, while troopers in Putnam lost about $890 for the year.
While overtime cuts were largely responsible for the Lower Hudson Valley decreases, overtime isn't the driving factor in high overall state police pay, the Journal study found, accounting for about 6 percent of trooper salaries, or $5,700 in 2010 on average.
Dennis Hallion, executive director of the National Troopers Council, an advocacy group, had two words when asked to comment on New York's $112,500 state police pay: "Not enough."
"There's two things you can't shirk on," said Hallion, a retired trooper from New Jersey. "Public safety and education."
But six figures?
"I think it's too much," said Jada Smith of the City of Poughkeepsie.
Good benefits
Besides the salary, a New York state trooper receives generous benefits. Troopers start with 15 days of vacation — and get up to 28 days after 21 years. They also are entitled to 13 sick days a year that can be accumulated up to 300 days; on retirement, 165 days can go to pay health insurance and a fifth of the rest can be cashed in.
Add to this 12 holidays annually, three to five personal days and a $110 bonus to members who stay fit. The state pays to dry-clean uniforms and gives 15 days of bereavement leave. Troopers contribute nothing toward retirement, with the state kicking in nearly 19 percent of state police pay —or $106 million last year.
The Census Bureau reported the annual average pay for New York State Police in 2009 was $96,009; first-place New Jersey earned $96,890. The Journal's analysis for 2010 is higher because state troopers received a 3 percent salary increase in 2010 and the Journal's average included only members who made above the $50,000 base pay; that eliminated troopers who did not work a full year and at least some of those who left service in 2010, as about 125 troopers do yearly.
A spokeswoman for the New York State Police PBA, Michele Matteson Crisafulli, disputed that the trooper salary was the second-highest nationally because troopers work a 2,184-hour year, compared with about 2,000 hours for other agencies.
"By our calculations, since New York State Troopers work more hours than any other state police agency in the nation, we rank 24th in pay in the nation for hourly rates," Crisafulli said in an email. She declined to provide the rankings, however, saying they were based on data from the National Troopers Council. But the group's president, Hallion, said he had no such data, and Crisafulli declined to answer further questions, including whether the union calculation took into account that troopers are paid overtime after 2,000 hours.
But Crisafulli, like others, cited the risks of the job.
"New York State Troopers are set apart from other state employees in the hazards they face every day, … responding to emergencies from one end of the state to the other such as 9/11, prison breaks, riots in cities or on Native American reservations, and the fact that unlike other state employees, our members have a greater chance of not returning home to their families."
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