NEW YORK CITY, NY - Data obtained by the New York Post indicates that the New York Police Department (NYPD) is losing its officers in troves and at an alarming rate.
A total of 2,516 NYPD officers have left this year, which is the fourth highest number in the past decade and 43 percent more than the 1,750 who bolted in 2018, just before the COVID-19 pandemic and crime surge that plagued the city.
The data shows that the number of officers quitting before they hit their 20 years and are able to receive their full pensions also skyrocketed from 509 in 2020 to 1,040 in 2023. That is a 104 percent increase. Police Benevolent Association (PBA) President Patrick Hendry said that as a result of all the early departures and the department's lack of filling those spots, has forced those who remain on the job to work an obscene amount of mandated overtime.
He added, "The workload is a leading factor driving people away from the job. If the NYPD is going to survive these staffing reductions, it cannot just keep squeezing cops for more hours." As a solution to this issue, the union proposed a flexible work schedule that would have cops work longer hours, but on fewer days.
Some officers are now worried that the exodus will only get worse because the city reportedly plans to cancel the next five police officer academy classes, thereby shrinking the nation's largest police force to the smallest it has been in decades.
According to the New York Post, Mayor Eric Adams' administration plans to cut the upcoming NYPD's academy as part of a large reduction in the city budget caused primarily by the multi-billion dollar migrant crisis.
The pending police academy freeze comes as the NYPD continues to face a staffing shortage as they fight to replace nearly 3,000 uniformed officers who have retired or quit since 2019. Hendry said, "This is going to turn the NYPD staffing crisis into a public safety disaster."
He added, "Our police officers are being worked to exhaustion and 911 response times are already rising. What is going to happen when no reinforcements arrive for months on end? Cutting cops puts New Yorkers at risk, period."
Officers usually work 20 years or more to collect their full pension, which can equate to 50 percent of their final average salary. One officer, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Post that he plans to leave the job this summer as soon as he hits his 20 years.
He said, "I keep in contact with the guys that I was in the police academy with and we all have the same notion. I think maybe 95 percent of us are planning on leaving." His academy class graduated in 2004 and was a class of 2,400.
The officer said that the workload of the short-staffed NYPD is crushing cops and things only stand to get worse after the budget reduction forces the upcoming academy classes to be canceled. He said that at 45-years-old, he is having a difficult time keeping up the same overtime hours he worked when he was younger.
He said, "We've been working an average of about 13 to 14 hours a day with a lot of the protests happening in the city. Enough is enough. I'll have maybe one day off for the week and I'm so tired from work I don't want to do anything."
Even for the younger officers, the job is taking a similar toll. A 28-year-old who also asked for anonymity, said that he has four years with the NYPD, adding that "the job is unbearable now" and that he is "looking to leave sooner than later."
The drastic budget cuts will reduce the NYPD to just 29,000 officers by the end of fiscal year 2025. This is the lowest level since the mid 1990s.
A total of 2,516 NYPD officers have left this year, which is the fourth highest number in the past decade and 43 percent more than the 1,750 who bolted in 2018, just before the COVID-19 pandemic and crime surge that plagued the city.
The data shows that the number of officers quitting before they hit their 20 years and are able to receive their full pensions also skyrocketed from 509 in 2020 to 1,040 in 2023. That is a 104 percent increase. Police Benevolent Association (PBA) President Patrick Hendry said that as a result of all the early departures and the department's lack of filling those spots, has forced those who remain on the job to work an obscene amount of mandated overtime.
He added, "The workload is a leading factor driving people away from the job. If the NYPD is going to survive these staffing reductions, it cannot just keep squeezing cops for more hours." As a solution to this issue, the union proposed a flexible work schedule that would have cops work longer hours, but on fewer days.
Some officers are now worried that the exodus will only get worse because the city reportedly plans to cancel the next five police officer academy classes, thereby shrinking the nation's largest police force to the smallest it has been in decades.
According to the New York Post, Mayor Eric Adams' administration plans to cut the upcoming NYPD's academy as part of a large reduction in the city budget caused primarily by the multi-billion dollar migrant crisis.
The pending police academy freeze comes as the NYPD continues to face a staffing shortage as they fight to replace nearly 3,000 uniformed officers who have retired or quit since 2019. Hendry said, "This is going to turn the NYPD staffing crisis into a public safety disaster."
He added, "Our police officers are being worked to exhaustion and 911 response times are already rising. What is going to happen when no reinforcements arrive for months on end? Cutting cops puts New Yorkers at risk, period."
Officers usually work 20 years or more to collect their full pension, which can equate to 50 percent of their final average salary. One officer, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Post that he plans to leave the job this summer as soon as he hits his 20 years.
He said, "I keep in contact with the guys that I was in the police academy with and we all have the same notion. I think maybe 95 percent of us are planning on leaving." His academy class graduated in 2004 and was a class of 2,400.
The officer said that the workload of the short-staffed NYPD is crushing cops and things only stand to get worse after the budget reduction forces the upcoming academy classes to be canceled. He said that at 45-years-old, he is having a difficult time keeping up the same overtime hours he worked when he was younger.
He said, "We've been working an average of about 13 to 14 hours a day with a lot of the protests happening in the city. Enough is enough. I'll have maybe one day off for the week and I'm so tired from work I don't want to do anything."
Even for the younger officers, the job is taking a similar toll. A 28-year-old who also asked for anonymity, said that he has four years with the NYPD, adding that "the job is unbearable now" and that he is "looking to leave sooner than later."
The drastic budget cuts will reduce the NYPD to just 29,000 officers by the end of fiscal year 2025. This is the lowest level since the mid 1990s.
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Comments
2023-12-06T17:26-0500 | Comment by: linda
Within the next five years, when NYC is nothing but a ghetto, people will say, in retrospect, "why did we allow the democrats to ruined this place"? Only ones left will be foreniers from southern boarder, who are supported by the gvt. What a shame.
2023-12-08T17:53-0500 | Comment by: Frank
The NYPD of long ago are doing jumping jacks in their graves. We have a mayor and a governor who are both clowns , bail reform and members of service who really shouldn't be there but are there because they lowered the standards.
2023-12-08T17:53-0500 | Comment by: Frank
The NYPD of long ago are doing jumping jacks in their graves. We have a mayor and a governor who are both clowns , bail reform and members of service who really shouldn't be there but are there because they lowered the standards.