By Kyle Lawson
Staten Island Advance
NEW YORK — An increase in police officers stepping away from the NYPD, either to retire or work elsewhere, has reportedly reached new heights.
The number of cops who have filed to leave before reaching full-pension-eligibility — offered at 20 years of service — has reached nearly 2,000 so far this year, compared to 641 at the same time last year, according to the latest pension fund stats obtained by The New York Post.
An officer’s full pension can total 50% of their final three years’ average salary.
A total of 2,465 NYPD officers have filed to leave the department this year — after 1,731 filed the same request at this time last year, data shows.
“This exodus is the result of cops in the prime of their careers deciding they have had enough,” said Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch in a statement posted Sunday on social media. “They are leaving for other opportunities where they’re paid better, treated better and have a better quality of life.”
Chief of Department Kenneth Corey, former Borough Commander of Staten Island, said recently in an interview with Fox News that the departures are being countered by an increase in rookies, noting that in July the department saw the “largest [graduating] class in the last 20 years.”
The life of a police officer in New York City has come with a slew of challenges in recent years including a recent rise in crime across several of the city’s seven major categories; several recent shootings and assaults in which officers were injured or killed; anti-police sentiment amid unprecedented social justice protests on Staten Island and across the nation; aspects of bail reform in Albany opposed by Mayor Adams and top police officials, and the city’s vaccination mandate — which currently is on hold.
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