The NYPD has never seen anything like it. An average of 300 or so cops are leaving the job every month — either through retirement or just plain resignation — this year.
While the NYPD has already added more than 4,000 officers this year — with more on the way in future academy classes to come — the fact remains that the number of new officers is about 1,000 less than the number of officers who have quit or retired from the job in 2025. The department has a headcount of 33,000 officers — one of the lowest numbers in more than three decades, and about 2,000 cops below the number that the department is budgeted to have this year.
Thank our lucky stars that even with the cop crunch currently ongoing at One Police Plaza that the NYPD is having a great crime-fighting year. Through July, the city has seen the fewest number of shootings and murders on record, and the post-pandemic crime spike that afflicted the Big Apple is clearly in the rear-view mirror.
This work, however, is taking a toll on the department, as evidenced by the surge of departures. Because more cops are retiring and less officers are coming on board quickly, those on duty are doing more and working longer hours via overtime. There’s only so much a cop can do, and only so much any worker can take in a day, before it finally reaches a point where a cop or a worker cannot or will not do much else.
What doesn’t help the NYPD is competition from police departments in the suburbs, which lure veteran cops away from the city with the promises of bigger paychecks and fewer responsibilities. Suffolk County Police Department officers, for example, earn more than $180,000 a year after 8 years of service; the NYPD pays officers at least $126,000 after 5 ½ years. Taxes, pensions, and benefits are also more lucrative in the suburbs.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has done her best to ease the NYPD’s staffing crisis by tweaking the recruitment qualifications and offering more college credits to officers who graduate the academy. The bottom line, however, is that the cop crunch in the Big Apple comes down to one thing: money.
New York City must start offering rookie and veteran cops better salaries and benefits to stay here. Tax credits and homebuyer assistance should also be offered for officers to remain in the Big Apple, both on and off the job.
The NYPD’s men and women comprise the best police force in the country and ought to be properly compensated for their services. City lawmakers must do more to support the NYPD than merely shake hands during a roll call visit or post #BacktheBlue on their social media profiles.
Better pay and benefits will bring more great New Yorkers to the NYPD; it will also ensure that the department continues its incredible crime-fighting work and always keep New York the safest it can be.
