Struggling NYPD mother caught in welfare bust

**phantasm** · 09-21-07, 08:47 AM

Struggling NYPD mother caught in welfare bust
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BY ALISON GENDAR, KERRY BURKE and MICHAEL WHITE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Friday, September 21st 2007, 4:00 AM

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A 25-year-old NYPD recruit was so strapped by her $25,100 Police Academy salary that she committed welfare fraud, authorities said.
Claribel Polanco, a mother of two who was collared yesterday at her Bronx home, was suspended from duty and most likely will be fired, police sources said.
"She's all the problems in a nutshell - a trifecta," one police source said. "The department pays dirt, so all they can hire are kids on welfare. ... So she committed a crime to get by. And now the department has a criminal on the books - and she's not even out of the Police Academy yet."
When asked about the charges, Polanco said only, "This is ridiculous. Why are they doing this?"
Polanco, of Morris Ave. in Morrisania, was an NYPD cadet - a program for students - and was attending college when she signed up for welfare, a police source said.
She had been receiving food stamps and Medicaid.
But she failed to notify the authorities when she was hired by the NYPD in January and continued to receive more than $1,000 in benefits illegally, court records show.
Polanco was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court yesterday on felony grand larceny and welfare fraud as well as misdemeanor larceny and welfare fraud counts and was released without bail.
NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau investigators had prevented her from graduating with her academy class in June after catching wind of the alleged fraud, police sources said.
Police union officials declined to comment on the arrest.
Police officials have expressed concerns that dropout rates in the current class also have risen because of the low $25,100 starting salary.
agendar@nydailynews.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crim...n_welfare.html

**seanmac45** · 09-21-07, 09:03 AM

What does the city expect?

The starting pay is below ridiculous.

**Shoestring** · 09-21-07, 09:08 AM

Seriously in NY only getting paid 25g while in the academy, our part-timers can make more money than that.... and we are in bum fudge your mouth look pretty area

**LawnMM** · 09-21-07, 09:14 AM

That department has got its head so far up its own ass its not even humorous anymore. She's got two kids, living in friggin NYC, and they're parying her 25k. I'm amazed she wasn't robbing gas stations too.

**Shoestring** · 09-21-07, 09:23 AM

Originally Posted by LawnMM

That department has got its head so far up its own ass its not even humorous anymore. She's got two kids, living in friggin NYC, and they're parying her 25k. I'm amazed she wasn't robbing gas stations too.

maybe she was and we just dont know yet

**k-9max** · 09-21-07, 09:30 AM

Sure is interesting.

Makes you wonder how many other people did the same thing, or, are still doing the same thing that she did.

I know around here, the people on welfare are making out. They dont work, and they get over $600.00 a month to buy groceries.
the problem is, they sell the card to someone else for $300.00 to buy crack cocaine with.

**Willowdared** · 09-22-07, 03:25 AM

Meanwhile..the mayor set up a fund to pay welfare parents cash bonuses for taking their kids to the dentist, and getting them a library card!

**Cross240** · 09-22-07, 03:32 AM

wow......i dont know if its a good thing or a bad thing. I make about 30,000 with all the overtime..... cost of living is about a million times lower here then New york too.

**Cidp24** · 09-22-07, 03:47 AM

I know of one officer in my area that has to use CHIPS (Childrens Health Insurance Program), a state program for free insurance for children who's parents income level falls below a certain level.
I also knew an officer with a large family that received food stamps and other social assistance.
It's a crying shame that the pay is so low that an officer can't support his/her family, even with a working spouse.
I don't in any way condone what this officer did but I can almost understand.

Why is it that society pays a position with so much potential for abuse or corruption such a low salary? How can they expect an officer that is barely making ends meet, worrying about family and kids, and living with all the daily stress and pressure of just being an LEO, to not have the occasional loss of cool?

A retired officer put it to me this way once: He said "You have to have car insurance, right? It's something that you hate to pay for and rarely use but you have to have it. Do you find the best you can get and pay top dollar? No, you find the minimum you can get by with for the least amount of money. Society looks at law enforcement the same way."

I did not like it but it made sense to me.

**jcsdscott** · 09-22-07, 05:36 AM

Originally Posted by Cidp24

A retired officer put it to me this way once: He said "You have to have car insurance, right? It's something that you hate to pay for and rarely use but you have to have it. Do you find the best you can get and pay top dollar? No, you find the minimum you can get by with for the least amount of money. Society looks at law enforcement the same way."

I did not like it but it made sense to me.

Well said.

I know currently that my daughter has insurance through All Kids, a state health insurance program. A family insurance plan at work would take half my paycheck, and that's even with the department covering my share! My wife is a stay at home mom so that the little one and the one on the way get the attention they deserve. Only one income but we make it work somehow.

**conalabu** · 09-22-07, 06:35 AM

Originally Posted by jcsdscott

Well said.

I know currently that my daughter has insurance through All Kids, a state health insurance program. A family insurance plan at work would take half my paycheck, and that's even with the department covering my share! My wife is a stay at home mom so that the little one and the one on the way get the attention they deserve. Only one income but we make it work somehow.

It really pisses me off that any one of us has to make that statement.

**jcsdscott** · 09-22-07, 06:59 AM

Sad but true, I know the reasons behind it are political but as it is right now we make due. You would think that with my department's size (25 deputies, 26 jailers) we could come up with something better, but the negotiations with all county agencies grouped together so we get it stuck to us. But God is good, and we do what we need to get by.

**213th** · 09-22-07, 07:05 AM

25k?!?!

I'm in the military, and if I was living on base getting strictly base pay, I'd be making almost that much.

**Jenna** · 09-22-07, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by Cidp24

A retired officer put it to me this way once: He said "You have to have car insurance, right? It's something that you hate to pay for and rarely use but you have to have it. Do you find the best you can get and pay top dollar? No, you find the minimum you can get by with for the least amount of money. Society looks at law enforcement the same way."

That's a really short-sighted strategy, but unfortunately a common one for governments that rely too much on the logic of capitalism. It's outrageous that governments are using this logic to avoid paying a living wage to LEOs. Many local governments seem to be taking advantage of the tendency of most cops to see their career as a calling that they are willing to make great personal sacrifices for, rather than just a job that they are willing to leave if the pay and benefits are not good enough.

**Shoestring** · 09-22-07, 08:18 AM

I dont know about everyone else but my family lives paycheck to paycheck. My wife works part time so she can stay home with junior and I put in as many hours as I can to make up the rest. Its sad that we have to really limit what we can buy for junior because of such a tight budget. I dont have a single problem with government helping support people in need.... as long as the person is also trying to do something about it, ie work themselfs instead on sitting on the couch all day eating cheetoes and drinking alcohol or smoking a fatty!

**conalabu** · 09-22-07, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by Shoestring

I dont know about everyone else but my family lives paycheck to paycheck. My wife works part time so she can stay home with junior and I put in as many hours as I can to make up the rest. Its sad that we have to really limit what we can buy for junior because of such a tight budget. I dont have a single problem with government helping support people in need.... as long as the person is also trying to do something about it, ie work themselfs instead on sitting on the couch all day eating cheetoes and drinking alcohol or smoking a fatty!

Exactly.

**Buttercup** · 09-22-07, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by jcsdscott

Well said.

I know currently that my daughter has insurance through All Kids, a state health insurance program. A family insurance plan at work would take half my paycheck, and that's even with the department covering my share! My wife is a stay at home mom so that the little one and the one on the way get the attention they deserve. Only one income but we make it work somehow.

It shouldn't be that way. And it's a shame that an LEO should be working paycheck to paycheck, it makes me angry and it makes me sick that society/communities/governments don't take care of those who take care of us.

**bufford408** · 09-22-07, 09:04 AM

I make more than 25k here in the hood. But I really don't think anyone makes as much as they think they should.

**BigDawg** · 09-22-07, 09:30 AM

When I started to look around and try to decide where we would live after mission, my wife wanted to move to NYC. She has ALOT of friends there. Once I saw what the starting pay was, and how long it took to get to a liveable wage I told her there was just no way we could do it. Even though it would have put me real close to my whole family too. Its sad that they dont pay a liveable starting pay, but then shake their heads and wonder why stuff like this happens.

**Buttercup** · 09-22-07, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by bufford408

I make more than 25k here in the hood. But I really don't think anyone makes as much as they think they should.

Few people think that they make as much as they should and the cost of living is vastly different in different part of the country, but it's wrong when an LEO has to find alternative ways to insure or feed their families.