In an apparent cost-cutting move, the NYPD has quietly put its “in-grade” promotions on hold.
In the first three months of the year, just one cop has gotten a discretionary promotion — compared to 180 in the same period last year, records show.
This affects all promotions up to the rank of chief that do not require passing a civil-service test. For example, when a detective third grade is promoted to second grade, the pay jumps from $80,000 to $92,000 a year. A promotion to first grade nets a $104,000 salary.
The moratorium also affects raises for sergeants and lieutenants on special assignments that pay more.
Sources say the discretionary promotions are on hold until the department’s fiscal year ends in July. With the force thinning its ranks by 5,000 officers over the last six years, there’s little room to slash jobs, so the NYPD has to find other cost-saving measures.
Also, the economic crisis has caused fewer veteran detectives to retire and, in so doing, open slots.
The unions for detectives and other officers last year “negotiated sizable increases in grade promotions during their contract negotiations,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
“Commissioner Ray Kelly made hundreds of in-grade promotions last year,” Browne noted, but now they’re available only through attrition.
And “since attrition has fallen off markedly, there are few slots available,” he said.