The NYPD has had 503 officers file for retirement since May 25th, a trend Deputy Commissioner spokesperson Sgt. Mary Frances O’Donnell called “troubling.”
Filings surged between June 29 and July 6 as 179 uniformed officers filed for retirement: a 411% increase from the same period last year when just 35 uniformed officers filed, CNN reported.
“There have been 306 retirements, 40 resignations and 503 have filed for retirement [since May 25],” O’Donnell said. “2019 numbers for comparison: 254 retirements, 49 resignations and 287 filed for retirement.”
Last week, New York City cut $1 billion from its police budget amid calls for abolishing and defunding the police nationwide. The push for defunding comes in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department.
“Of course, cops are retiring at a higher rate,” Chris Monahan, president of the Captains Endowment Association, told CNN Wednesday. “We’ve been abandoned by the NYPD and elected officials.”
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said last month the city would take some of the funding that was cut from the NYPD and put it toward “youth development and social services for communities of color,” CNN reported.
“The increase in detectives and other cops filing for retirement comes as no shock,” said Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association. “No one wants to come to work every day and be demoralized and vilified as they risk their lives to protect people.”
DiGiacomo believes the increase in retirements in a loss to New Yorkers. According to New York Police Department statistics, there have been 40 murders over the last 28 days, an increase of 21.2% from the same period last year. There have been 42 more murders this year than the same time last year, with the total at 197 as of July 5.
“New Yorkers are losing their most experienced crime fighters because of continued violence in the city and the apathy of misguided elected officials,” DiGiacomo said.
According to a 25-year NYPD detective who spoke with CNN, filing for retirement requires an appointment with the pension section. While appointments are usually easy to obtain, now it’s a week’s wait, he said.
“Every day the pension section sends out a notice of who went that day and filed. (It) used to be a page, maybe two the most.. the other day it was six pages,” the detective said.
The New York City Police Pension Fund has not turned down anyone who wants to file for service-related retirement, CNN reported.
“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,” O’Donnell said.
