Mayor Adams says: New Recruits will Better Replace Exodus of Cops who are Retiring and Resigning

By Yehudit Garmaise

After more than 1,500 NYPD officers either resigned or retired amidst 2022’s crime surge, Mayor Eric Adams said he is not worried about gaps in staffing because the next generation of cops is better than ever.

“We got an amazing recruitment campaign coming in,” Mayor Adams, said, touting the newest graduates of the Police Academy.

Adams also downplayed the reduction in cops because since he assumed office in January, the police department has reduced desk jobs and distributed NYPD officers more effectively, he said.

“You don’t see five, six police officers standing at the corner together,” the mayor said. You’re seeing us deploy our police properly.”

Plus, the mayor pointed out the wave of retirements and resignations presents the department with “a great opportunity to [further] diversify the department,” said the mayor.

In what is the largest exodus of police officers since the statistics have been available, approximately 520 cops have resigned, and more than 1,000 have retired as of May 31, according to NYPD pension data. 

The 1,596 total departures from this year’s police department reveal a 38% increase compared to the same period in 2021, when 1,159 cops left their patrols, and a 46% spike from 2020, when 1,092 left the NYPD.

When Mayor Adams was asked whether those figures “concern” him, Adams replied, “No, it does not,” and promoted the idea that serving among New York’s Finest “is an amazing career.”

In addition, the mayor explained that the city’s budget deal on which he and City Council shook hands last week did not include significantly more funding for the NYPD amidst heightened crime, he said, “We must first utilize the resources we have.

“I am going to deploy New York’s taxpayers’ money correctly.”