As Violent Crime Plagues New York City, 272 NYPD Officers File for Retirement

With anti-police rhetoric on the rise and a decision by local leadership to partially defund the police and completely disband the city’s plainclothes anti-crime unit, it should not come as a surprise that a shocking number of New York City police officers want out.

According to the New York Post, 272 NYPD officers filed retirement papers in the month following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

That is a noticeable increase from the 183 officers who filed for retirement during the same time period last year.

Patrick Lynch, president of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, said it best: “We are all asking the same question: ‘How can we keep doing our job in this environment?’ And that is exactly what the anti-cop crowd wants. If we have no cops because no one wants to be a cop, they will have achieved their ultimate goal.”

Meanwhile, Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said morale in the department is “at the lowest levels I’ve seen in 38 years.”

No sane person can blame police officers for wanting to call it quits. This is especially true in the Big Apple, where the men and women in blue were targets of left-wing mobs even before Floyd’s death unleashed the latest wave of anti-police fervor.

Last July, mobs dumped buckets of water on New York police officers. The work environment for the NYPD only got worse as the summer went on, with people throwing concrete and bottles at the cops.

Over the past month, the hostile work environment for police officers has become even more severe.

Two weeks after Floyd’s death, an Atlanta police officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks, an African-American man, after Brooks resisted arrest and aimed the officer’s taser at him. Now, the officer faces a murder charge.

The message to law enforcement officers in Democrat-run jurisdictions is clear: You have no right to self-defense, and every split-second, difficult decision you make will be second-guessed.

With all of these developments, it should come as no surprise that a large number of officers will want to head for the exits. Sadly, the anti-police environment will make it harder to find good men and women to replace the retiring officers.

While it’s not surprising that a blue exodus would occur in New York and other major cities, such a phenomenon will have devastating consequences for people who live in those communities. A crime wave has already erupted in NYC even before nearly 300 police officers announced their retirement.

In the week following the city’s decision to disband its plainclothes unit, a total of 28 murders occurred in America’s largest metropolis. At the same time last year, only 12 murders took place.

Similarly, the New York Post reported that there were 97 murders through the third week of this month, compared with 89 murders throughout all of June 2019. This problem will only get worse with fewer police officers on the streets.

Ironically, the crime wave will most impact the people who left-wing mobs claim to be fighting on behalf of. As New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz explained during an appearance on Fox News earlier this month, “If you look at the recent crime spike, it’s happening primarily in black neighborhoods.”

So much for the idea that “Black Lives Matter.” No wonder African immigrant Nestride Yumga described the activists who constantly chant that phrase as “hypocrites.”

As Yumga pointed out, “When black people kill black people, they don’t come out and do this crap.” Sadly, more black Americans will become crime victims because of BLM activists’ rush to demonize the police.

As the hatred of law enforcement has reached a fever pitch in this country, some Americans have decided to show their appreciation to those who serve and protect. For her part, Yumga has repeatedly delivered meals to police officers in her city of Washington.

Unfortunately, such kind gestures might not be enough to persuade officers to stay on the job.

Deciding whether to become a cop or remain a cop requires a cost-benefit analysis.

For many, including the 272 NYPD officers who have decided to retire, the benefit of appreciation from a handful of businesses and patriotic Americans does not outweigh the costs of constant demonization and risk of serious injury or death they face on a daily basis.