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

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.

 

President’s Message

 

Dear Fellow Sergeant,

There is no better way for me to describe the events of the past week than The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Please click on the following link and read the article for a frame of reference.

https://nypost.com/2022/01/30/brooklyn-teacher-christopher-flanigan-calls-for-reciprocity-against-cops-gathered-to-mourn-slain-nypd-detective-jason-rivera/

The Good

Police Officers Jason Rivera, Wilbert Mora, and Sumit Sulan: Three young men dedicated to helping others and keeping New York City safe. Together they dispelled the false narrative that cop-hating politicians have been force-feeding society. Wise and brave beyond their years, they were dedicated and determined to bring positive changes to our city.

In doing so, Officers Rivera, 22, and Mora, 27, gave their lives. Officer Sulan, 29, ensured that their killer will never kill again. We owe Officers Rivera and Mora a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. It is their families who will forever wish their loved ones could be given a second chance in life. And we can never thank Officer Sulan enough for his gallantry under fire.

To all our fallen families, the NYPD NEVER forgets. We never have – and we never will.

The Bad

While sitting in St. Patrick’s Cathedral surrounded by many public officials at the funeral for PO Rivera, I was disgusted to my core. Some of the same bureaucrats whose villainization of the police was the bedrock for the hostile environment that got these officers killed, were elbowing their way to the front of the church for choice-seating at the major media event.

I watched with revulsion as many of them held their phones in their hands, texting constantly, oblivious to the solemnity of the affair. Calling it classless doesn’t begin to describe their reprehensible behavior. They refused to acknowledge the thunderous applause for calls for change to the perverted and obscene laws they created and foisted upon the public.

I wonder why they even attended this grave affair when it is them – and them alone – who purposely divided this city for their own political relevancy and expediency.

The Ugly

The likes of Brooklyn charter-school teacher Chris Flanigan and actress Jacqueline Guzman inserting themselves into this conversation is disgraceful.

Mr. Flanigan’s Instagram post encouraged violence, which he recoined as “reciprocity” against the police, while Ms. Guzman ranted online about the inconvenience of street closures because of PO Rivera’s funeral. To them, I ask where they were and what they were doing during the height of the COVID-19 epidemic when Police Officers didn’t have the option or convenience to stay home?

You can teach, audition, or act in a virtual setting, but you can’t protect the lives of others by Skyping or Zooming. Police Officers are some of the best teachers – and actors on the planet. We perform these roles every day – to protect all New Yorkers, including people like them who loathe us.

This Wednesday, the streets around St. Pat’s will again be closed to traffic so I urge Ms. Guzman to take the day off.

The good citizens of the greatest city in the world will be joining members of the greatest police department in the world to mourn Officer Mora – the youngest child of Dominican immigrants and a true son of New York. The streets will be lined with police personnel from throughout the country, as well as law-abiding citizens who believe in the rule of law and support the NYPD.

As sad as the funeral will be, the good will outweigh both the bad and the ugly as we bid farewell to a man who took a pledge to make a positive difference – and paid for that commitment with his life.

Fraternally,Vincent J. Vallelong
President
Sergeants Benevolent Association

President’s Message

Dear Fellow Sergeant,

We began the new year with many positive things to look forward to.

After three years of often difficult negotiations we settled our contract – and it is currently pending ratification by the membership.

We have a new Mayor, Eric Adams, a former NYPD Captain, who has promised to put public safety first, which was in direct contrast to the previous administration.

Mayor Adams understands how difficult our job is, and has appointed a new Police Commissioner who has promised to support us in our efforts to keep New Yorkers, and ourselves, safe.

However, in a glaring example of sheer lunacy, newly elected Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced sweeping changes to the way his office will handle serious crimes.

Even such violent offenses as armed robbery could be downgraded to petit larceny with the stroke of a pen.

Within days of that proclamation, a shoplifter in the 13 Precinct used cutting shears to threaten store security personnel and make his escape with the stolen property.

I applaud the arresting Police Officer who rightfully charged the suspect with robbery, and refused to sign the accusatory instrument when the ADA made no mention of the cutting shears and wrote up the case as a simple petit larceny.

It should be noted that the suspect had 12 shoplifting arrests between November 2021 and early January 2022, but was free because of the imbecilic “bail reform” laws.

It is not our job to do battle with the DA’s office or interpret its policies, but this officer was protecting her own interests, as well as the interests of the public.

With no qualified immunity to protect us from frivolous lawsuits, it is important that we not be complicit in this political madness.

We have seen tremendous surges in crime the past few years, and it seems apparent that it is only going to get worse in the immediate future.

Should you find yourself in a similar position as the officer involved in that arrest, please immediately contact your delegate or director or an SBA board member.

We will face many challenges in 2022, including working amid the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

During these incredibly challenging times, I urge you to remain steadfast and safe, and find a degree of comfort in knowing the SBA will always have your back.

 

A Message to the SBA Membership

 

Dear Fellow Sergeant,