Plan To Cut 1,000 Officers From Payroll Draws Critic

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly will be on the hot seat today at a City Council budget hearing regarding a plan to remove 1,000 officers from the department's payroll next year. The chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee, Peter Vallone, plans to question Mr. Kelly regarding the plan, which he says may be unnecessary. In a move to save money, the department wants to cut positions that have not been filled as a result of recruiting problems, Mr. Vallone said. The starting salary of officers, a major cause of the shortage of recruits, could be raised by the summer, he added.