Hundreds of NYPD officers have filed for retirement in the weeks after George Floyd’s death through June 23, almost 50 percent more than during the same period last year.
A total of 272 officers filed for retirement from May 25 to June 24 – a 49 percent increase over the same time period in 2019, the New York Post reports. Last year, 183 officers filed for retirement during that time.
"We are all asking the same question: ‘How can we keep doing our job in this environment?’" Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch told the New York Post. "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.”
According to Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch, officers are at their “breaking point.”
"We are all asking the same question: ‘How can we keep doing our job in this environment?’" he told the New York Post. "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.”
Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said that nearly 80 of his members have recently filed for retirement and morale is at the lowest levels he’s seen in 38 years.
“People have had enough and no longer feel it’s worth risking their personal well-being for a thankless position,” Mullins said.
“There is no leadership, no direction, no training for new policies,” he said. “Department brass is paralyzed (and) too afraid to uphold their sworn oath in fear of losing their jobs. Sadly, the people of this city will soon experience what New York City was like in the 1980s.
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