Den Moses: Bleeding blue: Why is the NYPD losing an average of 300 cops per month?

Law enforcement sources are sounding the alarm, charging that the NYPD is losing cops at record levels to other departments, not only leaving the city woefully unprotected but also driving other officers to the brink of retirement themselves.

According to the latest August data obtained by amNewYork, the attrition rate of officers either retiring or calling it quits before reaching the 20-year mark has reached a staggering high. The department has lost some 14,500 cops in the past 4 1/2 years, that’s almost half of the number of officers currently on the job.

An average of 316 NYPD rank-and-file officers departed the NYPD every month. Police have lost 5,248 individuals since January 2024 and have hired just 4,244 new officers in return.

Speaking with amNewYork under the assurance of anonymity, a recently retired cop who gave his name as John said due to the NYPD’s fleeting numbers he was worked to the bone, leaving a tremendous toll on his personal life.

“It just doesn’t affect me. It affects my immediate family. It affects my extended family. It even extended to my friends. I’d have to say: can you walk my son to school? I got stuck in this shift, and now I gotta work this day,” John said. “The job just didn’t affect you or your wife, your husband. It affects everybody. It really starts to bleed into people who aren’t even affiliated with the NYPD.”

John told amNewYork that he was part of a specialized unit but due to the lack of resources was often utilized as a beat cop and placed on a footpost, not only overworking him but also lowering his morale.
“You get brought into this unit, you achieve where you want to be. You get certain training, they spend a lot of money on training for you, and all they do then is basically use you as a rookie. You’re back on footpost again,” John said. “It’s crushing.”

As of August, the current NYPD headcount stands at 33,740, short of 1,261 of the department’s budgeted headcount of just over 35,000. It also falls below the 2019 numbers, which stood at 36,461, and well below 25 years ago, in 2000, when the city boasted some 40,285 members.

Delving into the numbers further reveals that so far in 2025, 1,807 cops have retired, and 517 have quit outright.

Officers amNewYork spoke with stated that the workload and its impact on family life have many cops trading in their NYPD patches for other law enforcement agencies.

Police sources reported that 21 former NYPD officers are set to start in Suffolk County this week. While the starting salary for a Suffolk County Police Department officer is just $50,000, after eight years, an officer can earn more than $189,000; by contrast, an NYPD officer’s salary starts at $60,884 and rises to $126,410 after 5 1/2 years of service.

An NYPD spokesperson said that the department has been attempting to attract more recruits by waving the application fee for police officer exams scheduled to take place next month, while also lowering the minimum age for police officer applicants to 20-years-old, something NYPD hopes will increase the amount of prospective cops. The Spokesperson also stated that the last NYPD graduating class was the largest in almost a decade.

“The NYPD recently welcomed nearly 1,000 officers to our ranks – the largest class since 2016. This is a department and a profession that is once again attracting young and bright talent in big numbers at scale. We will continue to attract the highest level of candidates to protect this city, and that starts with making the path to policing more accessible.”

Additionally, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has made several efforts to bolster her waning ranks. One is lowering the college credits needed to become a cop and boosting the number of college credits officers receive upon graduating from the academy. Still, the numbers are struggling to grow.

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry — who previously fought for a better pension for officers and, in turn, laid an incentive to keep cops on the job longer — says that the blue exodus will not be slowed unless the department alters the way in which cops are treated and lightens the workload.

“The NYPD’s staffing crisis is continuing to take an enormous toll on our members’ family lives and their physical and mental well-being. The burden is unsustainable, and it’s driving too many talented cops out the door,” Hendry said.

“The city needs to use every tool at its disposal to not only attract recruits but also keep the cops we already have. That means not only offering competitive pay and benefits, but also providing more time off, more predictable schedules and treating them like the professionals they are.”

John stated that he loved his job as a cop and yearned to stay longer than his 20 years, but told amNewYork he could no longer handle the toll of duty and the disproportionate number between cops and New York City citizens. He estimated that one cop alone would be responsible for nearly 400 New Yorkers.

“If there were three of us on this interview right now and we’re standing on a police footpost together, each of us would be responsible for 395 people on average. I always make the joke that I have a hard time controlling my two kids, but you want me to be able to control 395 people?” John asked. “We’re on one, maybe two or three hours of sleep sometimes, and then they expect you not to make mistakes. Nobody wants to be in that situation.”

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