Metro

Cushy cop retirements crush ritzy LI town of Southampton

The police pension crush is so severe in the Town of Southampton that the posh municipality has had to resort to layoffs. (Hampton Pix)

(Hampton Pix)

The tony Town of Southampton, LI, is being strangled by surging police pension costs — with the highest-paid cops who patrol the sleepy beach community retiring with annual cash benefits of up to $110,000, a top official told The Post.

Pensions costs are so out of control that town officials were forced to cut eight out of 98 jobs last year — through attrition and forced retirement — in order to balance the books, said Russell Kratoville, the Town of Southampton’s management-services administrator.

That’s nearly 10 percent of the entire workforce.

“Something has to be done about pensions — especially the pensions for police. It’s astronomical!” Kratoville said.

“Pensions have gotten out of control. We have to look at new models to address it,’’ he explained at a conference of the New York Association of Towns and Villages at the Hilton yesterday.

Critics charge that cops in the Town of Southampton — which has a separate force from Southampton Village — get big pay for policing what amounts to a resort town.

“The biggest enemy on the job is boredom,” said one former cop. “The biggest enemy is boredom and complacency.”

From the outset, town cops make $60,500 in base salary — compared to $42,000 for an NYPD cop.

But the vast majority of a town cop’s time is spent on traffic stops, petit larcenies and monitoring a few raucous bars in the summer.

“If you want action, this isn’t the department to find that,” said one former NYPD cop who is now a retired town officer.

Violent crimes — such as assault and rape — are minimal, both former officers said.

And that culture encourages police to try to climb the ranks instead of sticking with their partner on the street.

“Cops don’t depend on each other for their safety in crisis situations,” a former town cop said.

“So they end up fighting each other for promotions and money and that kind of thing. All of the city guys who come to work out here notice that.”

Town officers also rack up serious pensions on the backs of taxpayers.

Under current law, police officers contribute 3 percent of compensation toward their pension for the first 10 years on the job. After that, they pay nothing.

Officers can retire with full pension benefits after 20 years. “This is the same old song,” said Southampton Town PBA Vice President Kevin Gwinn.

“Municipalities across the country blame unions for their financial problems.”