Thousands of NYPD officers left the force in 2020.
- In 2020, more than 5,300 NYPD officers either quit or retired from the department, which is a 75% increase compared to the previous year.
- The wave of departing deputies was reportedly provoked by the unrest following George Floyd’s death and a police reform bill that eliminates giving qualified immunity to the NYPD.
- The trend continues, as the number of NYPD officers who left the force in 2021 is already 830.
Following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, 5,346 NYPD officers have either quit or retired from their job. The disturbing increase in leaving deputies was estimated to be 75% more than the previous year, amounting to 15% of the total number of officers on the force, as the Daily Wire reports.
In only a single month, between May 25 and June 24, 2020, 272 officers left the Police Department.
As per the New York Post, out of the 5,346 people who left the force, 2600 quit their jobs following the unrest unleashed after Floyd’s killing. The rest 2,746 filed for retirement.
Shockingly, the cops who departed NYPD last year were nearly 2,300 more than those in 2019.
As for 2021, over 830 officers have already left the department. Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, stated:
“Cops are forming a conga line down at the pension section and I don’t blame them. NYPD cops are looking for better jobs with other departments or even embarking on new careers.”
The massive increase in quitting and retiring officers was also impacted by the police reform bill to eliminate giving qualified immunity to the NYPD, voted by the New York City Council last month. The law permits citizens to sue police officers for excessive force or unlawful searches and seizures.
Aggravated by the City Council’s decision, former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik commented:
“No police officer should work in a jurisdiction where they do not have the support of those they work for. Beginning today, I will no longer recommend young people consider the NYPD as a career.”
No police officer should work in a jurisdiction where they do not have the support of those they work for. Beginning today, I will no longer recommend young people consider the NYPD as a career. https://t.co/eX85GZB9vn
— Bernard B. Kerik (@BernardKerik) March 25, 2021
NYC Police Commissioner Dermot Shea added:
“Ask any police chief that doesn’t have the final say on discipline and you will find a chief who has had officers returned to duty that shouldn’t have been, and in many of those cases more acts of misconduct by an officer the chief wanted to fire.”
In a statement, Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch insisted that the City Council is “absolutely trying to abolish the police.”
Lynch explained:
“The Mayor and City Council are absolutely trying to abolish the police. They’ve kept our pay absurdly low. They’ve ratcheted up our exposure to lawsuits. They’ve demonized us at every opportunity. And they’ve taken away the tools we need to do the job we all signed up for, which is to keep our communities safe.
Now the NYPD is spending money on slick recruiting ads to replace the experienced cops who are leaving in droves. City Hall should just admit the truth: police abolition-through-attrition is their goal. They won’t stop until the job has become completely unbearable, and they’re getting closer to that goal with every passing day.”
After hearing multiple times the phrases “I’ve had enough” and “This isn’t the job I signed for” from detectives and deputy inspectors, an NYPD sergeant concluded:
“Elected officials are cradling those causing complete chaos on our streets and taking every measure to literally handcuff our officers.”
