So far this year, a total of 2,516 NYPD officers have left, the fourth highest number in the past decade, as reported by the New York Post, who obtained the data on the recent NYPD staffing turnover. According to the information, the number of officers quitting before reaching the 20 years required to receive their full pensions skyrocketed by 104 percent. Patrick Hendry, Police Benevolent Association (PBA) President, says that a lack of replacements are forcing the remaining cops to work “inhumane amounts of forced overtime.” “The workload is a leading factor driving people away from the job,” the union leader told the Post. “If the NYPD is going to survive these staffing reductions, it cannot just keep squeezing cops for more hours.” The numbers of NYPD officers quitting the force has been rising since 2019, nearly doubling between 2020 and 2021, according to the Police Pension Fund. Many of the officers are going to other departments with higher pay. New York is also facing steep budget cuts in order to better handle the migrant crisis, which has found its way from America’s southern border to the Empire State. The city is facing a 2025 budget shortfall of $7.1 billion because of the crisis. One of the most impactful effects of the reductions is a hiring freeze at the NYPD, where the next five police academy classes have been postponed. “This is truly a disaster for every New Yorker who cares about safe streets,” Hendry said in a statement. “Cops are already stretched to our breaking point, and these cuts will return us to staffing levels we haven’t seen since the crime epidemic of the ‘80s and ‘90s. We cannot go back there,” he added. “We need every level of government to work together to find a way to support police officers and protect New York City’s thirty years of public safety progress.” Last month, the PBA said that a surge in violence against police officers is a contributing factor behind why so many police are quitting. “There is a simple reason that assaults on cops are going up. It’s because anti-police activists — many of them on the public payroll — have normalized violent resistance against police officers,” Hendry said. “Charges against criminals who assault cops are frequently downgraded or thrown out, while hard-working cops are having their careers destroyed for using appropriate force to defend themselves or safely make an arrest,” he explained. “Police officers are literally getting beaten up in this environment. It’s another reason that cops are still quitting in droves.”New York Police Department officers are quitting the force in staggering numbers, leaving a crushing workload for those who remain.
