They just keep leaving the Big Apple’s Police Dept, still the largest in the country……
New York’s Finest continue to bolt from the job at an alarming rate, according to new data obtained by The Post — and some cops worry the exodus will only get worse because the city plans to cancel the next five Police Academy classes, shrinking the nation’s largest police force to the smallest its been in decades.
A total of 2,516 NYPD cops have left so far this year, the fourth highest number in the past decade and 43% more than the 1,750 who hightailed it in 2018, before the pandemic and crime spikes hit the city, NYPD pension data show.
The number of cops quitting before they reach the 20 years required to receive their full pensions also skyrocketed from 509 in 2020 to 1,040 so far this year — an alarming 104% increase, the data show.
The years of departures and lack of replacements are now taking a toll, forcing the cops who remain on the job to work “inhumane amounts of forced overtime,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said….
…
Officers typically work 20 years or more to collect their full pension, which can equate to 50% of their final average salary.
One police officer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told The Post he plans to leave the job this summer when he hits 20 years.
“I keep in contact with the guys that I was in the police academy with and we all have the same notion,” he said of his 2004 class of 2,400. “I think maybe 95% of us are planning on leaving.”…
…
The weary officer said the workload at the whittled down NYPD is already crushing cops, and things will decline further now that the city put the kibosh on the next five Police Academy classes, as part of planned budget cuts announced by Mayor Adams on Nov. 16.
The drastic cuts will reduce the department to just 29,000 cops by the end of fiscal year 2025 — the lowest level since the mid-90s — and come amid a slew of city-wide belt tightening. The mayor has blamed the the city’s multi-billion-dollar migrant crisis….
…
Spero Georgedakis, 53, a former Miami SWAT team officer who helps recruit and relocate New York City cops to greener pastures — in his case, police departments in Florida — told The Post he’s “busier than ever” and moved 60 disgruntled officers over the last two years….