Powell details salary comparisons and retention concerns
Powell says probation officers now have 11 steps but top pay is about $81,000 after 11 years, while parole officers start at $81,000 and neighboring counties pay over $100,000. She says the city trains officers who then leave for better pay, and calls for proper compensation to retain staff.
As the workforce became increasingly composed of women and people of color, our members'compensation failed to keep pace with the growing responsibilities.
In 2019,
UPOA filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint alleging discrimination in compensation.
In 2021, UPOA and five women of color filed a federal lawsuit challenging disparities in pay and promotional opportunities.
Data cited in that litigation shows significant disparities.
In New York City, public advocate analysis found that men in the Department of Probation earn nearly $5,000 more on average than women.
An analysis commissioned by UPOA found that white men earn approximately $14,500 more on average than women of color within the Department of Probation.
Today, inadequate compensation is contributing to the staffing crisis.
Experienced probation officers are leaving for better paying law enforcement positions in New York City to the New York City Police Department, Department of Correction, and neighboring probation departments, among other employers where their skills and experience
are compensated more competitively.
As a result, employees of the Department of Probation have experienced increased case loads and longer hours.
Officers have less time for home visits, individualized case planning, treatment coordination, and other intensive work that effective community supervision requires.
According to data we obtained from the department,
There are approximately 594 probation professionals, of which 41.4% are under five years at the department, and 21.7% have 20 years or more.
to August 2026, there were approximately 449 separations.
I'm still trying to figure out what the real numbers are, and that was including over 300 resignations.
Also, from 2020 to the present, it appears to have been appears to staffing has declined by 33.2%.
When probation officers leave,
Public safety suffers.
As New York City increasingly relies on alternatives to incarceration, it cannot afford to lose professionals responsible for effective community supervision.
We urge City Council to amend administrative code to extend appropriate collective bargaining protections to probation officers at its
that it previously did for emergency medical personnel.
You cannot have safe decarceration without strong probation, and you cannot have strong probation without fairly compensated workers.
Thank you for your time and attention to this critical issue.
I'm happy to answer questions.
Can I just add something while I'm on the mic?
I'm on the mic, right?
One, two.
You talked about doing analysis.
I think I have given you some data from before, and I've been doing analysis in comparison to...
I appreciate this.
That's the staffing and the separation.
But before I gave you something on the dollars and cents, because in order to know how to fix the problem, right?
So I'm going to give you something more updated, because recently the data I gave you before has changed because parole, sheriff's office, and...
And Suffolk County has new contracts.
So to me, it's so bad that our, let me just go back.
My last contract negotiations, I was able to get us to from zero steps to 11 steps to try to make the job more attractive, right?
We are now, so we got 11 steps now, which we didn't have.