New York officials need to bolster salaries and benefits for SUNY police, the New York State Environmental Conservation Police, the state park police and Forest Rangers, the union that represents those officers said. 

Pay issues have made it harder to recruit and retain minority officers, who have left for better benefit and pay packages with other local police agencies, said PBA of New York State President Ryan Law. 

“The nearly 1,200 men and women represented by the PBA of NYS, and their families, truly appreciate the Governor and legislature recognizing that it was time to address some of the compensation injustices that have existed among our four police units since 2014,” said PBA of New York State president, Ryan Law. “It’s hard to believe that our members haven’t seen a pay raise since 2014, but we are grateful that a significant portion of our wage inequities were addressed in this year’s budget and we are looking forward to working with the Governor and the legislature on our remaining labor issues.”

Officers who fall under the union's representation have not seen their pay rise since 2014. The $212 state budget approved this month does include adjustments for compensation plans retroactive to the years between 2015 and 2019 when they were working without a contract. 

But more work is needed to close compensation and retirement benefit gaps with municipal police agencies, the union said.

“We just can’t compete with a municipal police agency that is offering our officers better pay and the ability to retire after 20 years,” Law said. “We end up losing a lot of great officers with years of valuable experience because we are one of the few remaining law enforcement groups that still requires 25 years of service before an officer is eligible for retirement. In addition, our competitive disadvantage makes it much harder to maintain a diverse workforce when they leave us for other police departments.”