The number of NYPD cops on the job this year and last is the lowest it’s been in more than three decades – with about 200 cops leaving each month, according to data obtained by The Post.
The current NYPD headcount is 33,695, just 154 more than last year — and the lowest since 32,451 in 1990, stats from the department and city Independent Budget Office show.
The problem is getting worse as retirements this year have surged 11%.
A total of 566 police officers have hung up their holsters through April, compared to 508 over the first four months of last year, NYPD pension data shows.
A total of 823 NYPD cops have left the department so far this year. Of those, 257 cops quit before they reached the 20 years required to receive their full pensions.
On Thursday alone, 27 cops resigned. “Most” are going to the higher-paying Nassau Police Department, police sources said.
The NYPD’s largest police union warned something has got to give.
“New York City police officers’ workload has exploded over the past several months, and the staffing is still nowhere close to keeping up,” said Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry.
“From the daily protest details to additional patrols in the subway, our members are beyond exhausted already – and summertime crime spikes are just around the corner. Squeezing cops for even more overtime hours is not a solution. It will just send even more of them running for the exits.”
The NYPD has responded to 2,400 protests since Oct 7, and handle an average of 12 protests a day. Cops are often held over past the end of their shift to deal with the demonstrations.
The union has proposed a flexible schedule — currently being tested in select precincts — that would have cops work longer hours on fewer days.
One police officer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told The Post he retired in January after 20 years because he had had enough of the long hours, anti-cop rhetoric and bail reform laws that prevented him from doing a job he once loved.
“When I first got on the job there was a certain level of respect for the police officer. In regards to no-bail, these guys know they can punch a cop and be let out the next day. There’s no consequences. So, a lot of cops are like, ‘What the hell are we doing?’” said John, a 42-year-old assigned to the Bronx.
Retiring was “like somebody lifted an elephant and took it off [my shoulders],” he said.
As a married father of three, losing his regular days off and being re-routed to other commands to deal with protests and subway crime meant longer hours and took a toll on his family, he added.
“If you go to any of the outer counties, particularly in Westchester or Long Island, those guys are making a tremendous amount of money for maybe half the work that our guys do.”
Two of the canceled NYPD academy classes are back on, Mayor Eric Adams announced last month, which will boost the dwindling ranks by 1,200.
But the PBA contends the new hires will “barely keep the headcount flat.”
The Adams administration called off five classes to train new recruits as part of multiple rounds of budget cuts to offset the cost of the migrant crisis, which has the city on the hook for nearly $10 billion through next year.
Earlier this year, though, higher-than-expected revenue has led the administration to roll back a series of cuts, including one of this fiscal year’s police classes and more than $500 million in educational cuts next year.
