Monday, February 21, 1977

Police Cutbacks in New York City Appear to Be Lowering Morale

Most officers and commanders attribute the morale woes mainly to the long dispute over a deferred salary increase and new “chart,” or work schedules, that require officers to work 10 more days a year. Preliminary reports show that there was about a 15 percent increase in crime here last year compared with 1975, a rise of about triple the national average. More than 600,000 felonies, or serious crimes, were apparently reported in the city, the highest since 1971, thus making 1976 a record crime year for New York. Because of the city’s fiscal crisis, the Police Department in three years has lost 6000 officers and supervisors and now is at a strength of about 25,000. The cutbacks have led to the transfers of thousands of older officers from desk jobs and specialty units to street patrol.

NYT 2/21/77 Selwyn Raab

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