US News

FINEST’S BIG FAUX OF FORCE

The NYPD is making an unusual move to ensure no one notices a decline in the number of cops on the streets – decking out the vehicles used by traffic-enforcement agents, auxiliary police and school-safety agents so they look like regular cruisers.

The move will be phased in slowly with the special units – who have typically used cars painted dark blue – to be given the white cars that are taken out of use from the main fleet.

The only difference will be in the decals affixed to the sides of the vehicles that indicate which unit they are from.

“This is to make this look like there are more cops on the street,” said a law-enforcement official familiar with the decision.

In all, there are about 100 cars used by the auxiliary wing of the department and 200 used by each of the school-safety and traffic-enforcement divisions.

The decision was made over the summer to slowly change the appearance of the fleet by swapping the older blue cars with white ones that have been taken out of use with the regular patrol units.

It is not known how long it will be before the older vehicles are phased out.

The move comes as the NYPD has seen a decline in the number of patrol officers out on the streets.

Currently there are around 36,000 cops on the force, down from a high of about 41,000 in the late 1990s.

Contributing to the decline has been a low number of recruits because of low starting salaries for rookie cops, despite a 17 percent pay jump put in place earlier this year.

Also, the department canceled the upcoming Police Academy class as part of citywide budget cuts.

Just last month, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly countered that fewer cops are looking to retire after 20 years on the job, when they are eligible for half-pay pensions.

“Retirements will slow down just because people will find it more difficult to find other employment,” Kelly told the City Council.

Some cops worried that the move may have unwanted consequences.

They said putting unarmed officers in vehicles that look like regular police cars could put them in danger, as criminals would have difficulty telling the difference.

larry.celona@nypost.com