In a recent interview with The Daily Show, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez (D–NY) made controversial comments about New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to increase the salaries of rookie NYPD cops by 28%, calling it “misplaced funding.”
“We are now at a point where officially, most officers are paid more than a teacher with a master’s degree serving these same kids involved in these same incidents,” Ocasio–Cortez said.
But the New York Post reported the city’s Department of Education said teachers with a master’s degree and teaching experience make between $68,000 to $83,900, suggesting Ocasio–Cortez’s claims may be overblown.
The Congresswoman also argued the Mayor’s plan to increase police wages should be replaced with funding for community violence prevention programs without law enforcement. She specifically mentioned the “Stand Up to Violence” program at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, which allows social workers to investigate shootings without law enforcement.
“We are defunding safety, defunding our public schools, defunding our public pools, defunding our parks [and] defunding our libraries,” she said. “When we are taking all of those resources and demanding that every single department — except the militarized one — be cut, we are sending a message about who and what we care about.”
But Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association (PBA), the city’s largest police union, argued the city has already lost “far too many talented cops to better paying and less stressful policing jobs” in other departments.
“This agreement is not only a major step toward closing our pay gap relative to other police departments — it also significantly improves our members’ quality of life,” Lynch said.
The deal, which is projected to cost taxpayers $5.5 billion through 2025, will give rookie cops salaries from $42,000 to $55,000 per year once PBA officials approve the agreement.
This planned raise in police wages has become the latest political battleground between Congresswoman Ocasio–Cortez and Mayor Adams. While some support Ocasio–Cortez’s efforts to prioritize funding for community violence prevention programs, others argue that the Mayor’s plan is necessary to keep the city’s police force competitive and fairly compensated. Whether or not the Mayor’s plan is ultimately approved, it is clear that the debate over how to keep New York City safe is far from over.
