By Joanna Putman
Police1
NEW YORK — The NYPD Academy will be cutting the next five academy classes due to dramatic budget cuts, the New York Post reported.
The move will result in an estimated decrease of officers to about 29,000 by 2025, the lowest number since the 1990s, according to the report.
The NYPD’s $5.6 billion budget will be cut by about $132 million next year, according to the report. The cancellation of academy classes for the next 1.5 years will cover $42 million.
“This is truly a disaster for every New Yorker who cares about safe streets. Cops are already stretched to our breaking point, and these cuts will return us to staffing levels we haven’t seen since the crime epidemic of the 80s and 90s. We cannot go back there,” Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Hendry told The Post.
Mayor Eric Adams announced the sweeping cuts in the budget modification released on Nov. 16, the New York Daily News reported. Adams said in a written statement that the cuts, which affected the NYPD, FDNY, public libraries, sanitation department and schools, were needed to support programs for the city’s growing migrant population.