President’s Message | March 22, 2024

President’s Message | January 2, 2024

President’s Message | October 23, 2023

Dear Fellow Sergeant,

As we embark on the holiday season, our primary goal is finalizing a new contract and addressing a key problem that is unique to SBA members. At issue is the fact that in some instances newly promoted Sergeants are making less money than the Police Officers and Detectives they supervise.

This inexplicable and unacceptable pay disparity is the result of a ludicrous practice called “attrition bargaining.” This occurs when the City uses the reduction of the workforce, among other things, to make future hiring plans and predict future costs of collective bargaining agreements. This chicanery makes New York City the only municipality where a law enforcement promotion comes with a decrease in pay.

Making this situation even more appalling is the fact that the Department is losing personnel in huge numbers. Morale is at historical lows, while crime is rampant and there is no political support for law enforcement at a time when it is so greatly needed.

Many Police Officers are retiring after a few years, and scores of Sergeants are leaving at the 20-year mark, resulting in a depleted and inexperienced workforce. With all the global unrest that directly impacts New York, this is especially unsettling. I assure you that rectifying the pay disparity is our top priority.

November 4th will mark the 7-year anniversary of the line of duty death of active Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, the 43 Precinct Delegate, who was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a paroled career criminal for terrorizing his family. Another Sergeant was shot and wounded in this tragic incident.

Sgt. Tuozzolo’s wife and two sons, as well as their extended family, have carried on amid unrelenting heartbreak. They have become an integral part of the SBA family, and despite their unfathomable grief serve as inspirations to us all.

Please take a moment to reflect on the legacy of Sgt. Tuozzolo, as well as all the brave men and women of law enforcement who have sacrificed so much in the name of public safety.

This includes retired Sgts. Theresa Foiles, Leonard Davis, and Wanda Negron, all of whom lost valiant battles with 9/11 related illnesses since late September. These Sergeants served the NYPD and the SBA with utmost dedication and commitment, and it is crucial that we never forget their service or their sacrifice.

On a happier note, the SBA’s annual Holiday Delegate/Membership Luncheon will be held on Friday, December 22, 2023, at Russo’s on the Bay in Queens. As is customary, the drawing for the annual Car Raffle will be held at the joyous event.

The proceeds from the Raffle enable the SBA to provide Health and Welfare benefits to surviving spouses and children of SBA members. We now have over 500 survivors who receive such benefits, so we ask that you contribute to this worthy cause.

Raffle tickets are available from Delegate or Directors, as well as at the SBA office or through the mail or the SBA website: www.sbanyc.org

Please be safe and vigilant as you continue to perform your duties in exemplary fashion. Thanks for your tremendous efforts on behalf of the SBA, NYPD, and the people of the City of New York, and best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season.

The next contract negotiation date is November 6, and we will keep you apprised of any developments.

Fraternally,

Vincent J. Vallelong
President
Sergeants Benevolent Association

President’s Message | July 10, 2023

President’s Message | June 1, 2023

Dear Fellow Sergeant,

We hope that you are all looking forward to the joys of summer and spending much well-deserved leisure time with your loved ones. While it appears that we are close to obtaining a new contract, there are still issues to be addressed such as 12-hour tours.

Being an NYPD Sergeant is one of the most challenging but fulfilling positions in all of law enforcement. No other rank in any police department wears two hats like Sergeants do. Besides policing the most culturally, ethnically, economically, and politically diverse city in the world, we are regularly called upon to be both a “Worker” and a “Supervisor” or “Boss.”

We are inveterately second guessed and Monday morning “quarterbacked” for our split-second decisions, as well as the decisions of those we oversee. It is the nature of our job, but we perform our duties with eagerness and enthusiasm.

As things are now, depending on your promotion date, you and newly promoted sergeants could be earning between $15,000 and $20,000 less than the Police Officers and Detectives that you supervise.

These disproportions are the result of what is called “attrition bargaining,” a disingenuous and reprehensible municipal maneuver that is all too common. We assure you that we are fighting hard to right this wrong but fully understand the sting that many of you are experiencing. We have sent a letter to those currently on the Sergeant’s list explaining this injustice and advising them on various options.

To everyone who currently serves in the rank of Sergeant, we are working hard to make your salaries commensurate with the hard work you do.

The daily challenges we face were magnified recently with the arrest of a female Hunter College professor who cursed out a group of students with whom she did not share an opinion on a controversial topic. When a newspaper reporter visited her home for an interview, she responded by menacing him with a machete.

In another incident, a commencement speaker at City University of New York (CUNY) called for “rage” to tackle the “fascist NYPD.” This occurred at the same graduation ceremony where Mayor Adams was booed when he mentioned his previous career as an NYPD member.

While we as police officers believe in free speech and honest discourse, it is not appropriate for such toxic words to be spewed at publicly funded educational institutions.

If law enforcement is getting this type of blowback from the perceived intelligentsia, it stands to reason that the climate in the streets is equally volatile. Criminals are more emboldened by the day, and there is no doubt that the city is more dangerous than it has been in decades.

On a happier note, we will be holding the annual SBA Family Picnic on Friday, June 30, 2023, at Nansen Park in Staten Island. It is a great time for families to bring their children and for past and present SBA members to reconnect. We have been hosting the picnic for over 20 years, and many attendees regularly tell us it is a highlight of their year.

We hope to see you there. In the meantime, please continue to perform your duties with unrivaled excellence. Despite many daunting challenges, you are the finest frontline supervisors in the world, and it is a privilege and a pleasure to serve as your President.

Fraternally,

Vincent J. Vallelong
President
Sergeants Benevolent Association

President’s Message | May 1, 2023

Dear Fellow Sergeant,

National Police Week is being held this year from May 14-20 in Washington, D.C. Thousands of law enforcement personnel and their families will descend on the nation’s capital to pay homage to the more than 400 police officers from throughout the United States who lost their lives as a result of the performance of their duties. Those fallen officers will have their names publicly read and permanently enshrined on the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall.

Among those being honored this year are 51 NYPD members, including 9 Sergeants, all of whom passed away from 9/11 related illnesses.

We can never forget the tremendous selflessness and sacrifice of any of the fallen heroes, especially NYPD Sgts. Emanuele Alongi, Hugh Bartlett Jr., James Bast, Cornelius Douglas, Thomas Fennessy, Michael Fuller, Jeremiah Hunt, Mark Smith, and Christopher Tully.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the current life expectancy in the United States is 76 for males and 81 for females. The average age of the deceased sergeants, all of whom were males, was 54 years old.

They served the NYPD and the SBA with tremendous commitment, dedication, bravery, and grit, only to be taken in the prime of their lives and leaving behind scores of heartbroken family members, friends, and colleagues.

I hope the families can find a degree of comfort in knowing the esteem in which their loved ones will always be held, not only by the SBA but by the nationwide law enforcement community. They will forever be part of the SBA legacy and family.

Now that the PBA has settled its contract after seven years, it is anticipated that we will soon have a contract of our own. I assure you that we will fight for as much of a pay increase as possible, while also challenging the City’s ongoing cost-saving efforts such as 12-hour shifts and one-man supervisory patrols during these times of unprecedented dangers. We will keep you apprised of all contractual developments as they occur.

As I have said many times before, serving as your President is both a privilege and a pleasure. You make your tough job look easy and perform your duties in such exemplary fashion. Thank you for all that you do and know that the SBA will always have your back.

Fraternally,

Vincent J. Vallelong
President
Sergeants Benevolent Association

President’s Message | January 4, 2023

Dear Fellow Sergeant,

Amid a challenging social and political landscape, SBA members continued to make the toughest job in the world look easy throughout the past year. Despite many elected officials across the nation turning their backs on law enforcement, we continue to perform our dangerous duties in exemplary fashion.

There have been dramatic increases in violent crime throughout New York City. On December 20, PO Orlando Adorno of the 79 Precinct was shot and wounded while attempting to arrest a career criminal for a domestic incident.

And on New Year’s Eve, in the Times Square area, POs Louis Iorio, Paul Cozzolino, and Michael Hanna were attacked by a domestic terrorist armed with a machete. All three officers were injured, with PO Cozzolino’s skull being fractured in the unprovoked assault. The suspect was shot and wounded by PO Hanna.

Over 330 police officers were shot in the line of duty in the United States last year, including 10 from the NYPD. More than 100 officers were shot in ambush-style attacks, including NYPD Dets. Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera of the 32 Precinct, who were fatally wounded by a career criminal in January 2022.

The NYPD continues to make timely arrests in nearly all violent incidents. It is not the fault of the police that the perpetrators are too often set free to commit further mayhem only hours after being arrested.

The fault lies with our feckless politicians who refuse to acknowledge the error of their ways in implementing the catastrophic changes in police and bail policies, which they masqueraded as “reforms.”

PO Adorno’s wife, Michelle, wrote a stirring online post that should be a wakeup call for all our purported leaders.

“I lived everyone’s worst nightmare today, getting the call and being picked up by a squad car [and] rushed to the hospital with lights blaring,” she wrote. “Thank God it was not worse and the unthinkable.

“All you ladies ‘get it’ to have their [significant other] put their life on the line every day,” she continued. “But nothing prepares you for that phone call. Definitely shaken but standing.”

Michelle Adorno’s words could not be more powerful or profound. All loved ones of police officers “get it,” as do most members of the public. The ones that do not “get it,” or refuse to acknowledge “it” because of their ideological agendas, are our “leaders” on the City Council and in Albany.

Especially galling is the 30 percent pay raise state legislators gave themselves in December, even as cities and municipalities throughout New York remain in shambles. What they think they did to deserve such a significant increase in salary is anyone’s guess.

The dangers we face will continue unabated in 2023. Nothing is more important than you returning safely to your homes after each tour, so please continue to be extremely vigilant in all that you do. The SBA will never waver in its commitment to serve and represent you during good times and bad.

Thank you for the tremendous effort you put forth every day in keeping the public safe, as well as for the pleasure and privilege of allowing me to serve as your President. Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and safe 2023.

Fraternally,

Vincent J. Vallelong
President
Sergeants Benevolent Association

President’s Message | August 9, 2022

Dear Fellow Sergeant,

We are living and working amid a nationwide crime epidemic. Countless civilians are being slaughtered daily, and more than 210 police officers have been shot in the line of duty this year, 40 of them fatally. There have been 46 ambush-style attacks against law enforcement, resulting in 71 officers being wounded and 18 killed.

Nowhere is the unbridled violence more evident than in New York City, which is regarded as the Capital of the World. Shootouts and acts of unprovoked violence in such tourist destinations as Times Square have made international news.

Lawlessness and urban decay are obvious as soon as visitors arrive in the city at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Penn Station, or Grand Central Station. The first images people see are homeless encampments and aggressive panhandling.

Three out of four New Yorkers now say that being the victim of a crime surpasses contracting COVID-19 as their primary safety concern. As a result, they avoid public transportation and are wary about returning to work.

All these daily affronts are an assault on the senses of a civilized society. Despite the public making their concerns clear, many of our elected officials refuse to budge on their idiotic bail and police “reforms” that have resulted in this sense of anarchy.

The NYPD is making an abundance of quality arrests in these violent crimes, only to see many of the offenders released back into society within hours. We are at a crossroads where, if we don’t act now in a forceful and decisive manner, the city could be lost forever. If there is no accountability for one’s criminal actions, there is no justice or sense of social order.

Because our purported leaders continually refuse to address these compelling issues, we will continue to press them and hold them accountable for their ineptitude.

Also, as a member of the United Coalition of Public Safety (UCOPS) and the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO), we are joining forces with our law enforcement colleagues from Seattle, San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and other cities and municipalities to address these gross injustices.

The time for action is now. As police officers, we take our oaths to protect and serve very seriously. With continual pressure on our public officials to do the right thing, we can only hope that those responsible for this climate of lawlessness will ultimately come to their senses and put the safety of all New Yorkers, as well as the NYPD, above their own political and ideological agendas. The law-abiding public and the police deserve nothing less.

Thank you for your exemplary work and your steadfast support – and please continue to remain vigilant at all times.

Fraternally,

Vincent J. Vallelong
President
Sergeants Benevolent Association

SBA Statement on Senate Passage of LE Bills

Dear Fellow Sergeant,

I am pleased to report that this evening the U.S. Senate passed two SBA priorities by unanimous consent: H.R. 6943, the “Public Safety Officer Support Act”; and H.R. 2992, the “Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)-PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act.” Both bills now head to the White House where President Biden is expected to sign them into law.

The SBA has been a leader on the “Public Safety Officer Support Act” since its inception because the legislation ensures coverage under the federal Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program for those officers who succumb to injuries resulting from job-related PTSD or acute stress disorder. For the first time ever, the law will recognize the link between recurrent on-the-job exposures to traumatic events and the rise in deaths by suicide within the ranks of the NYPD and our nation’s law enforcement officers. As such, H.R. 6943 represents an extremely important step in addressing the unseen yet heavy toll that stress and exposure to trauma have on law enforcement by ensuring access to PSOB for those officers who die by suicide or succumb to injuries resulting from PTSD or acute stress disorder.

I am proud of the SBA’s work on this important bill, and our role working with Members of Congress, the Biden Administration, and many allies over this past year to advance H.R. 6943. We are extremely grateful for the leadership of chief bill sponsors Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Rep. David Trone (D-MD) whose support and persistence were critical to the successful effort to pass this important legislation.

In addition to H.R. 6943, the SBA’s advocacy also helped to push through the Senate H.R. 2992, the “TBI/PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act” that the SBA helped to develop. This legislation directs the U.S. Justice Department to develop crisis intervention training tools for use by law enforcement and other public safety employees when interacting with community members who have TBI or PTSD. This type of training is extremely important, as law enforcement officers are often the first to respond to individuals experiencing mental and behavioral health crises, including those affected by TBI or suffering from PTSD. These situations can quickly escalate, placing the safety of both the officer and the individual at risk. Importantly, the bill also includes a critical officer mental health and wellness component, directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study and report to Congress on the incidence of concussion and TBI in law enforcement. This research will help lead to the development of resources to improve officer safety and support officers who have experienced TBI on the job. I would like to thank chief bill sponsors Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) for also working with us to achieve final passage of H.R. 2992.

Additionally, I would like to applaud and express the SBA’s appreciation for the congressional leaders who helped champion H.R. 2992 and H.R. 6943. In particular, Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA), House leaders Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH).

Finally, the SBA is pleased that the Senate also approved this evening several other SBA legislative priorities that must still be passed by the House of Representatives, including:

• S.4007, the “Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act,” which directs the Justice Department to develop new programs for making state-of-the-art treatments available to officers suffering from job-related PTSD or acute stress disorder;
• S. 4003, the “Law Enforcement De-Escalation Training Act,” to provide resources to improve law enforcement training on alternatives to use of force, de-escalation, and mental and behavioral health crises;
• S.3860, the “Invest to Protect Act”; which improves federal COPS grant funding for smaller law enforcement agencies; and
• S.2151, the “Strong Communities Act”; a bill that provides grants for law enforcement recruits to attend school or academies in exchange for service in their communities.

Fraternally,

 

 

 

Vincent J. Vallelong
President
Sergeants Benevolent Association

President’s Message

Dear Fellow Sergeant,

We are living and working in very precarious times. Crime is surging in New York City – and throughout the United States – as elected officials at all levels of government have turned their backs on the police.

New York is at the forefront of the crime epidemic. Every day we read about so many violent crimes that there is no longer any shock value associated with them. Shootings, stabbings, slashings, random assaults of innocent people, and subway attacks have become the norm.

The NYPD is working hard to make arrests and remove guns from the street but in so many cases the suspects are quickly released with little or no bail.

The police are doing their job, but the system is not working. Sadly, the elected officials responsible for this chaos will not admit their mistakes and are even doubling down on the horrific “reforms” that brought us to this untenable place.

We take our oaths to protect and serve very seriously and can only hope that with continued pressure the public officials who have created this climate of lawlessness will put the safety of all New Yorkers above their own political and ideological agendas.

Now that retroactive pay for the recently settled contract has been distributed, we have already contacted the City about our readiness to embark on a new round of contract negotiations.

Hopefully, we can finalize this contract much quicker than the last few have been settled. One of our goals is to move forward in future contract negotiations in a much more timely and efficient manner.

We have also significantly enhanced our optical benefits and are pursuing creative ways to improve our dental and prescription benefits as well. We are constantly working to improve all benefits for the membership – and we will never waver in that commitment.

It was great to see so many of you at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and festivities. The Board members and I are extremely grateful for your votes of confidence.

This SBA administration has immense respect and admiration for the work that you do, so it is wonderful to have your steadfast support.

Thank you for your exemplary work and please continue to remain vigilant and stay safe.