News

PBA President interviewed about 2010 - 2011 Executive Budget

1/20/2010 6:00:00 PM

The PBA issued a press release today about our concerns for the 2010- 2011 Executive Budget as proposed by Gov. David Paterson. A local news station, Capital News 9 in Albany, intereviewed PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer about the manpower levels of sworn members of the New York State Police. The text of the PBA's press release is below, along with a link to the interview on the web page of Capital News 9.

The Governor is leading New Yorkers down a dangerous path because of his failure to add new Troopers to the New York State Police.

Although the State Troopers PBA tried to convey to Gov. David Paterson that if the number of Troopers continued to decrease there would be serious public safety issues, our concerns were rebuffed. The recently released 2010 – 2011 Executive Budget specifically states there will be no new State Police Academy recruit classes to help fill in staffing gaps.

“The Governor seems to want to bury his head in the sand, but he can’t hide from the fact that with fewer Troopers on road patrol, response times are going to be slower,” said PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer. “That, in turn, will endanger not only the public, but also the brave and dedicated Troopers who put their lives on the line each and every day.”

As the PBA forewarned at the end of 2009, the Governor’s disregard for public safety by ignoring manpower problems is only going to make the situation worse. The staffing numbers that the Governor included in his budget proposal were conservative estimates, since manpower had already decreased from appropriate levels in 2009.

Again, the PBA reiterates that we are referring to manpower levels of sworn members, the men and women who wear the gray uniform, patrol our highways, and respond to emergencies. The staffing numbers that we are taking issue with do not involve administrative personnel or the investigative ranks of the New York State Police.

Under the Governor’s current proposal, we will not likely see new Troopers on the road until 2012, at the earliest, when you consider that it takes nearly one year of classroom and field training to assign new Troopers to road patrol. In this scenario, it will take years for the State Police to restore the number of sworn members to appropriate levels.

“When we became Troopers, we knew that in simple terms, we would have to protect citizens and ourselves from the bad guys,” Mungeer said. “We didn’t know that we would have to protect ourselves from the highest levels of state government trying to decimate our ranks.”

Link to story and interview on Capital News 9 web site