With the city’s intentions to eliminate the upcoming five classes of the Police Academy, the biggest police force in the country will be significantly smaller.
According to reports, this year has seen 2,516 officers leave the NYPD, the fourth-highest total in the last decade and 43% higher than the 1,750 who departed in 2018, before the epidemic and crime increases struck the city, according to pension statistics examined by a media outlet.
From 509 resignations in 2020 to 1,040 this year, an alarming 104% rise, the figures reveal that the number of police officers leaving before reaching the 20 years needed to get their full pensions, according to the research.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry told local media that officer turnover and a shortage of fresh hiring are forcing police to work inhumane hours. The workload is a significant reason people quit, Hendry added. The NYPD must stop pressing police for additional hours to survive these personnel cuts.
According to the report, dramatic cutbacks would shrink the agency to 29,000 officers by the fiscal year 2025, the lowest number since the mid-1990s, amid citywide belt-tightening.
The mayor blamed the city’s multibillion-dollar illegal immigration dilemma.
New York City Mayor Adams (D) acknowledged the need for more police officers last month.
The mayor went on to say that he thinks the issue is national in scope and that the law enforcement dilemma is not limited to New York City. A lack of police officers has been an issue in Nashville, Austin, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, among other places.
The report shows many in the police force believe morale is low as a result of the anti-police movement that began with the 2020 police shooting of George Floyd and has since reached a crescendo. While they are already overworked attempting to keep citizens safe, some police chiefs have felt abandoned because the funding of their departments has been cut by local governments.
