By Tom Tracy
The future of the NYPD gathered at Brooklyn College last week to be sworn in as the first academy class of 2007. Nearly 1,150 recruits took their first oath of office January 10 inside Brooklyn College’s Walt Whitman Hall. “Today, you join the ranks of New York's Finest,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who presided over the ceremony with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. “Today you've answered the call to service and I'm confident that you will continue make New York City America's safest big city.” Since 2004, the NYPD has sworn in two academy classes each year to increase the headcount that is continually dwindled by promotions and retirements. The academy class did not meet hiring projections for the year, which hoped that over 2,000 would put on the blue uniform. Officials blamed on the lack of interest on the low opening salaries cops receive when they begin their careers. Over the course of their Police Academy training and their first six months on the force, new officers will receive an average total cash compensation of $35,000, plus an additional $1,000 uniform allowance, said officials. But, by their sixth year on the force, the average total cash compensation will rise to $72,000, plus an additional $1,000 uniform allowance. This year’s first academy class is 80 percent male and 20 percent female. Of that number, 50 percent of the cadets are white, 29 percent are Hispanic, 14 percent are Black and six percent are Asian.
