Dan Ladd: Retirement equity needed for New York outdoor law enforcement

This month, nine new Forest Rangers and 26 Environmental Conservation Officers will enter New York’s outdoor law enforcement workforce. It should be, and certainly could be, more. What is a total of 35 graduates from the two academies who started out in May and June, respectfully, as 58? Why the lack of retention early on or the lack of interest overall?

If you ask the PBA of New York State, the union that represents over 1,100 specialized state law enforcement officers which along with ECOs and Forest Rangers include NYS Park Police and SUNY Police, the problem is retirement equity. PBANYS has been seeking to bring retirement benefits in line with that of NYS Police, without success.

This year, for the fourth time, Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed legislation that would have established a 20-year retirement plan for PBANYS members, rather than the current 25 years.

“The lack of retirement equity is directly responsible for recruitment shortfalls and the mass exodus of seasoned officers who are poached by agencies that recognize their worth and compensate them appropriately,” PBANYS said in an announcement posted on its website in October, just prior to the governor’s veto.

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At the time, things were getting contentious between the two sides. In the same announcement, the PBA called out Hochul after she touted New York’s success in fighting crime thanks to her tightening of New York’s gun laws. The PBA countered that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies in New York do not report crime statistics to the FBI.

The PBA also sponsored a series of highway billboards that read “Help Wanted, New Governor Needed” and included a photo of Hochul. The legislation was vetoed shortly after, and the PBA said the governor’s office had threatened previously to do so if the billboards didn’t come down.

Prior to coming to New York Outdoor News, much of my outdoor writing efforts were centered on Adirondack issues and in recent decades there’s been a call, or rather a demand, for more Forest Rangers in the region. I’m not sure nine across the state is what the requesters have in mind. Meanwhile, we in the sporting community have watched DEC resources dwindle during the same time period in the form of foresters, biologists and obviously, law enforcement.

The retirement equity bill passed the Assembly 144-0, and the Senate 58-1. But Hochul vetoed the bill because it would cost over $66 million for past services and another $6 million annually. “This bill has been vetoed four times over the past five years because this pension enhancement would impose substantial un-budgeted costs on the state,” she said in her response.

Citing budgetary concerns, Hochul also recently vetoed several other bills, including much to the dismay of many, the New York Wildlife Crossing Act. In her response she offered to work with interest groups and legislators on these issues in the future.

Getting back to the PBANYS, it won’t be long before the governor and the legislature begin haggling over another annual budget and perhaps the two sides could come together if her offer is sincere. A retirement equity package in that budget could help solve some of the recruitment issues for the PBANYS, and also show that New York’s philosophy on crime prevention is more than passing gun laws.