Raymond W. Kelly, the commissioner of the New York Police Department, will receive a 10-member team of around-the-clock security officers when he retires next year, a task force that’s going to cost taxpayers an estimated $1.5 million a year.
The team of 10 police officers is more than Commissioner Kelly requested. Gawker reported that the retiring top cop asked for six, but the department’s Intelligence Division said he’d better take 10.
Among the security detail: Three sergeants, a lieutenant and six detectives. They’ll serve as bodyguards and personal chauffeurs for Commissioner Kelly and for his family members, DNA Info first reported. At the six-month mark of Commissioner Kelly’s retirement, police intelligence agents will conduct an assessment to determine whether the size or mission of the security detail should change, Gawker reported.
Commissioner Kelly accepted protection from the police department on at least one previous occasion. In 1994, 18 months into his work as commissioner, he was given a detective to watch over him and act as his personal bodyguard for a period of seven months.
And it’s not the first time the police department has provided a retiring commissioner with a security team, funded by taxpayers. Howard Safir was given a tax-paid protection detail when he left the top slot in 2000 — the first and only other time the department has provided the perk, Gawker reported.
By comparison, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is paying out of his own pocket for his security detail when he retires from the city next year. Technically, Gawker reported, Mr. Bloomberg is keeping the same 17-member body of guards he has now, but those officers are going to retire from their city jobs and Mr. Bloomberg will rehire them out of his own pocket. Their projected salaries, Gawker reported: up to $150,000 each per year.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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