What began as a stream is now a roaring torrent. In June, the New York Post reported that members of New York’s Finest were retiring in record numbers over the previous year. The spike, which hit a high of 49%, was in reaction to radical changes enacted by the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, that included a massive $1 billion cut to the force’s $6 billion budget and elimination of New York’s plainclothes anti-crime unit.
Now, according to the latest data released by the department, retirements have reached an 87% increase from the 1,274 retirements reported during the same period in 2019.
According to Fox News, “2,385 officers have submitted their retirement papers this year as of Oct. 6. … [D]uring the same period in 2019,” 1,274 men in blue elected to hang up their uniforms.
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A spokesman for the department is quoted as saying:
While the decision to retire is a personal one and can be attributed to a range of factors, it is a troubling trend that we are closely monitoring.
The attrition, while lamentable, is nothing new. A survey of NYPD officers administered in 2016 found that the vast majority reported hating their jobs and felt safer before de Blasio and then-Police Commissioner Bill Bratton took office.
Roughly 87 percent of cops said the Big Apple has become “less safe” since the new administration took over at the beginning of 2014, with 55 percent of those respondents describing New York City as “a lot less safe.” (RELATED: Shootings are up 45% in Bill de Blasio’s SAFE Act-loving, frisk-free New York City)
