The New York Police Department has reportedly placed a limit on the number of retirement applications it’s allowing its officers to file, following a meteoric surge of cops quitting the force amid budget cuts and clashes with protesters.
In the past week, the number of officers filing for retirement has more than quadrupled on this time last year, with the exodus reportedly causing such a backlog of applications that the department is struggling to meet the demand.
Many of the officers hanging up their badges have cited a ‘lack of respect’ from the public amid national protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, and a loss of overtime pay following Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $1 billion cut to the department as the reason, the NY Post reported.
The NYPD said Wednesday that 179 cops filed for unemployment between June 29 and July 6 – a staggering 411 percent increase on the 35 who retired during the same time period last year.
The New York Police Department has reportedly placed a limit on the number of retirement applications it’s allowing its officers to file, following a meteoric surge of cops quitting the force amid budget cuts and clashes with protesters
Many of the officers hanging up their badges have cited a ‘lack of respect’ from the public amid national protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, and a loss of overtime pay following Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $1 billion cut to the department as the reason
The apparent evacuation comes as an astonishing 503 cops have reportedly filed for retirement between May 25 – the day of Floyd’s police killing – and July 3, according to the department.
That figure represents a 75-percent increase on the 287 cops who retired from the force during the same time period in 2019.
According to the Post, a line of officers were spotted lined up outside of One Police Plaza on Tuesday, where retirement paper are filed and processed.
‘Apparently, the pension section is only taking a certain amount of people per day and I think they are backed up till late July, early August,’ one officer told the outlet. ‘That’s why you don’t see like 100 a day, because they are only doing like 35 to 40 a day, by appointment.’
A spokesperson for the department confirmed the surge in retirement applications. ‘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,’ she said to the Post.
Another cop told the outlet: ‘There’s just droves and droves of people retiring. But there’s no surprise here, who the hell wants to stay on this job? Why would you want to stay on this job when people don’t appreciate what you do?’
The source said the flood of overtime the officers received from last month’s protests – which would boost pension payouts – and the expected loss of future overtime payments as a result of NYPD budget cuts, is also likely a key factor.
The NYPD said Wednesday that 179 cops filed for unemployment between June 29 and July 6 – a staggering 411 percent increase on the 35 who retired during the same time period last year
A spokesperson for the department confirmed the surge in retirement applications. ‘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,’ she said
One Brooklyn-based officer said: ‘You have to be crazy to stay on a job where you are losing money, abused by the people you are trying to protect and not appreciated by the politicians.’
In a statement, Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch blamed lawmakers who he said ‘completely dismantled our justice system’.
Lynch attributed the apparent flood of police retirement applications to ‘the question on every police officer’s mind: how are we supposed to do our job in this environment?’
‘And now that crime is out of control, they want to blame us for that, too,’ he added. ‘Whether we have 20 years on the job or only two, police officers are tired of trying to sort out these mixed messages. Many of us are looking elsewhere.’
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