Hoboken to hire 15 new cops tomorrow

Tuesday January 22, 2008, Jersey Journal

Fifteen new cops will be sworn in tomorrow in an official ceremony at City Hall, said Public Safety Director Bill Bergin today.

At tomorrow's ceremony, 15 civilians will be sworn in as new patrolmen, five patrolmen will be promoted to sergeant and two sergeants will be promoted to rank of lieutenant.

Despite Hoboken's budget problems, Bergin says the city can afford to hire new cops as long as they don't exceed numbers allotted in the city's Table of Organization. Even with the 15 new hires, Bergin says the Hoboken Police Department is still short of patrolmen.

With tomorrow's promotions, there will be about 105 patrolmen and 33 sergeants in the Hoboken PD. There can be a maximum of 120 patrolmen on the force, said Bergin.

The new salaries and pay raises are already part of Hoboken's 2008 municipal budget, said Bergin.

Exactly how much do Hoboken cops make? Here's a salary breakdown:

The starting salary for a brand-new patrolman is about $34,000/year. It takes a patrolman seven years to reach the maximum police officer salary of $80,000/year, said Bergin.

The starting pay for a sergeant is $93,000/year and the starting pay for a lieutenant is $106,000/year. However, during their first year of their new position, sergeants and lieutenant will only receive $2,000 more than their old salary.

The ceremony will be Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 4 p.m. in City Council chambers of City Hall.