Police officers are retiring in historic numbers — and the exodus will only accelerate if anti-cop Democratic Mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is elected, union officials warned this week.
As of Monday, 1,555 NYPD officers put in their papers — 48% more than the 1,049 who retired last year, and 65% more than a decade ago, when just 941 turned in their shields, according to NYPD data provided to The Post by the Police Benevolent Association.
Union leaders weren’t aware of any time in history that retirements for the first six months of year were as high, and worry about the disastrous affect the lefty Mamdani could have on NYPD recruitment and retention.
“We can’t afford to have a mayor who ignores the problem or tries to take us backward,” said PBA President Patrick Hendry. “We need a mayor who will speak up for police officers, and treat us and pay us like the professionals we are.”
The PBA hasn’t endorsed a mayoral candidate in this year’s race.
What the self-described Democratic socialist’s policies could mean to public safety and New York’s Finest is pushing some cops to leave, according to a Queens cop who is planning to put his papers in this month.
“The Democratic candidate who won is very anti-cop,” said the officer, who has more than 20 years on the job. “He has an extremist attitude and it’s going to scare other cops and they will go out the door.”
The cop has been particularly incensed over “blanket statements” Mandami has made about cops, including advocating for defunding the NYPD, a stance he later reversed during a debate in June.
Mandami has labeled the NYPD “wicked and corrupt” on X, and called for the department to be dismantled.
“You’ve never met us but you’re saying that we’re biased?” said the cop. “It’s offensive to everyone in law enforcement. Meanwhile, he doesn’t talk to cops.”
The officer — who took the test to join the NYPD a year after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center — said Mamdani’s June 24 Democratic primary win cinched his decision to leave.
“Him winning the primary definitely made me 100% sure that this is the right decision,” said the cop, who asked to remain anonymous because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.
A new wave of anti-cop sentiment — similar to what the officer heard during the George Floyd protests of 2020 — also helped make up his mind, he said.
“We didn’t get any support from politicians,” he said of the chaotic demonstrations which plagued the city and the nation in the months after Floyd’s death.
“We need a leader that’s not going to come with an anti-police attitude,” he said, pointing to Mayor Adams, a former police captain, a Democrat who will run on the Independent ticket. “The current administration has been very supportive of cops.”
The NYPD’s largest incoming classes were in 2005, when about 3,600 police officers joined the Force, so more cops are hitting the 20-year mark and are eligible to retire and take their pensions, NYPD spokeswoman Delaney Kempner pointed out.
“It is no secret that we are facing a staffing crisis across the NYPD, and hiring and recruitment efforts remain a priority,” the department said in a statement.
The NYPD has reduced the number of college credits required to become a cop to attract more candidates.
Rules that make it beneficial for cops to retire when they’ve had their best year financially are also sparking the 2025 exodus.
That’s where many police officers found themselves after taking advantage of overtime as NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch deployed hundreds of cops underground to fight subway crime and improve public perception.
City Hall and Albany have been working to try to repair the staffing crisis with increased recruitment and a series of new Academy classes that have brought on about 1,700 new cops this year, the PBA pointed out.
“Nearly every leader now at 1 Police Plaza, City Hall and Albany agrees that this crisis is serious,” Hendry said.
The retirements aren’t limited to the PBA.
The Detectives Endowment Association is also seeing an uptick this year, DEA President Scott Munro said.
So far, 606 gumshoes have retired as of July 1, according to the DEA’s data. Last year, there were 455 retirements all year.
The NYPD has seen a 33% drop in the number of detectives in its ranks, to 4,716 today from a high of 7,000 in 2001, Munro said.
“If Mamdani does get elected there’s going to be mass retirement,” Munro predicted. “He doesn’t believe in law enforcement.”
Lieutenants Benevolent Association President Lou Turco said some of Mamdani’s comments about police officers in the past concerned him.
“Right now, we have a recruitment retention problem,” Turco said. “But if he gets in, more guys with over 20 [years] are going to say ‘What am I doing this for?’”
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