Twenty-one years ago, Walter Sandford was at a crossroads: become a State Police officer or stay a local cop in Hudson Falls.

Back then, the choice was easy.

"I would have been taking a pay cut of $10,000," said Sandford, now the Fort Edward village police chief, of becoming a state trooper.

There was also a child on the way and a desire to not be sent to a far-off part of New York by the State Police.

Splitting his time between classes at Adirondack Community College, part-time jobs at departments in Hudson Falls and Whitehall, and a new family, Sandford took the State Police examination and did well.

But Sandford saw a better deal in sticking with the area.

In addition to the better wage, the Hudson Falls village police department paid 100 percent of his health insurance costs.

Today, things have changed.

A State Police officer fresh out the academy will earn a baseline pay of about $61,000, while a village officer will start at barely $30,000.

New troopers receive a minimum of 10 vacation days in their first year.

Over a 25-year period of service, that number will quadruple.

The state contributes 90 percent to a single trooper's health insurance plan and 75 percent to families.

A veteran can accrue up to 267 sick days that can be used toward a retirement credit.

State troopers, along with firefighters, are eligible to retire after 25 years and receive 50 percent of what their salary was during its peak, typically the final three years of duty. A state trooper who opts to take the tier 2 retirement plan can receive up to 70 percent of their average peak salary.

An officer contributes 3 percent of their salary to the retirement plan.

The benefit package for state troopers is so generous that some local police chiefs feel there's no way they can compete.

They fear that local police departments can be viewed as a training ground for ambitious young officers. Add in the sometimes generous overtime allowances (see story on Page A5), it is easy to understand why local departments sometimes struggle to hold on to their best recruits.

Tough competition

The difference for local police officers is stark.

Insurance benefits are still good by most standards on the local level. But villages like Hudson Falls tend to pay about 80 percent of the cost for a rookie officer as opposed to full coverage a generation ago.

It would put too much of a strain on local and county governments to provide a similar benefit package that is offered on the state level.

"No municipality or county agency can compete with the State Police," said Hudson Falls Police Chief Randy Diamond. "It creates an issue. If they get offered the job, they're out the door."

None of the chiefs blame the State Police for offering better pay and benefits. The job of a state trooper can be a dangerous one and has stringent requirements, including a two-year college degree and a rigorous background check.

Most local departments require a high school diploma for recruits.

During his tenure, Diamond has had one officer leave to become a trooper. Another recently took the trooper examination and scored well.

He doesn't begrudge the officers who take the opportunity to become a trooper. The package officers in Hudson Falls receive is generous, but it can't compare to working for the state.

"They're standing side-by-side with my guys, but they may be only making half or three quarters of what the troopers are making," Diamond said.

Still, some officers have declined to take a post with the State Police.

"I have known several individuals who passed up the opportunity to work for the State Police because they didn't know where they would be assigned," he said.

Chief George Bell of the Cambridge-Greenwich Police Department, where the starting salary is around $29,000, has struggled to remain competitive.

"My sergeant Brian Davis left two years ago," Bell said. "His salary basically doubled the minute he walked through the academy."

Both Bell and Diamond stressed that the local State Police barracks provide necessary assistance when their departments' resources fall short. For instance, when Hudson Falls police in July arrested Hudson Falls resident Jason Babson on charges of possessing an explosive device, the State Police bomb squad was called in to help.

"I'm not begrudging anybody at the State Police," Diamond said. "They earn every cent."

‘What could happen'

Tom Mungeer, the president of the Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers, started his career 16 years ago making barely $24,000.

The gains troopers have made, he said, came mainly through arguing to state leaders that the starting salaries simply were not sufficient for a dangerous and demanding job.

"The local deputies and the corrections officers were making more than us," Mungeer said. "I believe we were grossly underpaid for the job we did. We could have been packing our jobs to the far reaches of the state for a prison break or a hurricane out on Long Island. We made strides in bringing up the level of income."

At the same time, the level of professionalism rose in the State Police. In 1990, prospective troopers were required to have at least 60 college credits - the equivalent of a two-year associate degree - or military experience.

"We also have a stringent, stringent background check," Mungeer said.

He added that it's important to remember that 11 state troopers have been killed in the line of duty in the last seven years.

"We're not paid for what we do," he said. "We're paid for what could happen."

Where the action is

Glens Falls Police Chief Joe Bethel disagrees that the State Police lure young officers away. The real action is on the local level, he said.

He recalled sitting in a police science class taught by a New York City homicide detective who said the meat of investigations is done by local departments.

"If you're interested in doing police work, you want to do police work in a small city like Glens Falls or Hudson Falls," Bethel recalled him saying. "If something goes down like a homicide, you're in charge of the investigation."

Go somewhere that sounds exciting and you end up directing traffic, Bethel said. But in smaller cities, a patrolman could be the one who makes the big arrest.

For those attracted to law enforcement, it comes down to a matter of preference.

"I had a fellow that's done three tours in Iraq, he's seen combat, he came here and said I want to work here," Bethel said. "They might not want to do the type of work that a state policeman does. Others may want to work in a more urban setting."

And it isn't just the State Police that police agencies must compete with.

"They may go to law enforcement, corrections or the military," Bethel said. "We're always drawing from that same pool of young people willing to do that same dangerous work."