Public pension abuse has driven taxpayer costs through the roof, as The Post has often reported. Yet unless it’s clear who specifically is behind the abuse, it’s hard to ID it — and put an end to it.

That’s why Monday’s ruling by state Supreme Court Justice Melissa Crane requiring the release of the names of cops getting city pensions is so valuable.

Major kudos to the Empire Center, a government watchdog group that tracks retirement pay and went to court to have the names made public, on this major win for New Yorkers.

“Concerned taxpayers have played a crucial role in identifying pension abuse,” wrote Crane. And “public employees do not enjoy the same privacy rights as private-sector employees.”

“Disclosure of police officer names would lead to a higher level of accountability,” she also noted, and “discourage occurrences of pension ‘double-dipping.’ ”

How bad is pension abuse? Get this: One cop who retired in 2010 got a $474,511-a-year package. A 2011 retiree got one for $323,357.

Yet, as Crane notes, the names and specifics are important. Some years back, for example, The Post highlighted an FDNY retiree pulling an $86,000 disability pension — and competing in marathons. It would’ve been hard to ID him without his name.

The Empire Center’s release of the names of LIRR employees racking up obscene overtime cash (which make for even more outrageous pensions) drew not only public attention, after The Post highlighted it, but several probes as well. Now MTA officials are trying to fix union contracts whose work rules enable sky-high OT and pensions.

This is public money. The public has a right to know who’s getting it, how much — and whether it’s deserved. Cops, often heroes and critical to the safety of the city, are certainly entitled to fair retirement pay. But taxpayers have a right to be sure it is fair.