The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is on track to see record resignations and retirements this year, according to a weekend report from the New York Post.
The publication obtained data showing that 524 officers have resigned and 1,072 retired this year, as of May 31 — 1,596 in total, a 38 percent increase compared to the same period last year, when 1,159 officers had resigned or retired. Those 2021 numbers were a 46 percent increase from 2020, when 1,092 left in the same time frame.
A former NYPD officer who asked to go by “Joe” and recently left his job for a position at a Long Island police department told the Post that “anti-cop hostility, bail reform, and rising crime” have all contributed to the mass exodus of law enforcement officers.
“The last few years so many people had been leaving and manpower was so low that you’d go to work and you’d answer 25 to 30 jobs a day and you’re burnt out by the end of the day,” he said, adding that even when he arrested someone, “they were back in the precinct picking up their property the same day.”
“Joe” continued:
“Residents would ask, ‘Why does this keep happening?’ and I would have to explain to them, ‘This guy is going to be locked up tonight, but tomorrow night he’s going to come down your block again, he’s going to be on the same corner, you’re going to see him in the same stores [committing crimes]. I wish there was more we could do. But we can’t.’”
The overall number of officers has decreased from 36,900 in 2019 to 34,687, according to the report. Police Benevolent Association Patrolman Union president Patrick Lynch told the publication the NYPD’s staffing crisis will “ultimately hurt public safety.”
“Low pay, inferior benefits and constant abuse from the City Council and other anti-cop demagogues has pushed attrition to record highs,” Lynch said. “We need more cops working more hours to turn the tide of violence, but there is only so much overtime they can squeeze out of the cops who remain.”
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