Outgoing nanny-state Mayor Michael Bloomberg never promised transparency so he’s in the clear over his plan to take his trusted NYPD bodyguards with him when he leaves office. The cynical-sounding reason is “to keep their mouths shut” about his private life.
The New York Post writes that these members of New York’s finest “will hit the jackpot … retiring with cushy pensions and starting new, high-paying jobs for the billionaire media mogul.”
The Post quotes a law-enforcement source as saying that hizzoner is taking key members of his security detail into the private sector to ensure they don’t spill the beans about his day-to-day affairs during his three terms as mayor:
He wants them to go with him because they’ve been with him so long and know him personally.
So he gives them plum jobs to keep their mouths shut.
The team includes a lieutenant and several detectives, all of whom will all file for retirement from the force after Bloomie leaves office Jan. 1. All, the source affirms, will be making “six-figure salaries” in their new jobs.
According to the website NYC.gov, the starting salary for a uniformed patrolman is $34,970, suggesting that for veterans at detective grades the increase may not be all that staggering. The story nevertheless suggests a level of paranoia that is also reflected in recent reports that Bloomberg has used private email accounts to avoid FOIA requests and has no plans to retain an archive of his communications while in office, including NYPD emails.
