(Originally appeared in NewsMax.)
Last month, the New York Post published a story discussing the fallout surrounding Gotham’s police department, and how, by the end of the year, it could very well lose over 4,000 officers.
The sad part is that a great deal of these losses are completely unnecessary.
As for the reasoning, the Post’s article kept it simple, yet hard to swallow, “For New York’s Finest, surging crime, bail reform, anti-cop hostility, the defund-the-police movement, and battles over the city’s vaccination mandate are signs that it’s time to go.”
So, once more, we’re addressing the controversial mandate that was put into effect in early 2020 following COVID-19’s arrival on our shores.
Because some were unsure about the health and safety of the vaccine, they ended up losing their jobs. That translates to over 2,000 people — New York’s finest.
As you can see, this represents only a part of the problem.
“Defund the Police,” rears its ugly head once again. Government officials claiming there was a problem with the NYPD, when there clearly wasn’t.
Problem? Now there is one.
Crime is increasing in the city, and there are not enough officers to provide public safety.
Question for Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y.: The undermining of law enforcement agenda didn’t go as well as you thought it would, did it?
This means everyting is adding up to a not-good-at-all scenario.
Surging crime is enough to deal with, but inter-office politics resulting in less funding for the proper gear and officer power needed to keep things going?
Adding to the absurdity, throw in a controversial bail reform bill and all the good officers lost due to the COVID vaccine mandate, and, well, it spells unbridled disaster.
Now, the NYPD is stuck facing all of this head on.
What’s more, the morale rate for New York City’s police officers is at an all-time low.
The Post spoke with a veteran officer who left the department and said it best: “The NYPD has . . . become worse. I didn’t . . . know that was possible. I didn’t think it could get any worse.”
Officers already have face a lot within the scope of their daily duties; walking into every situation all-too-well-knowing it could be their last.
But pile on politics on top of those things which can adversely impact police budgets and hours, and the disdain that comes from people who don’t really understand what all they go through, and it just adds up to a scenario beyond depressing.
And New York City seems to be in no hurry to repair things.
National Review reported that the New York Supreme Court had no right to fire all those employees under the vaccine mandate, demanding that employees be rehired.
But Gov. Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams don’t seem to be in any rush to do so.
This despite a dire need to fix the rising problem of crime head-on. This is reflective of complete and utter ignorance of the sort that costs the Empire States’ largest city dearly.
But if you really want to hear about the depressive state of the NYPD, a 30-year veteran from Queens summed it up while speaking to the Post, “I have no regrets about leaving.
“From what I hear from the many officers I still speak to, the NYPD has actually somehow become worse in just the few months I’ve been gone.
“I didn’t even know that was possible. The job has become unsustainable for a lot of people — financially, mentally, everything about it.”
When you sacrifice a long-standing pension and an opportunity at a comfortable retirement for the sake of your own mental health and well-being, that serves as quite a statement. One that should not be echoed by so many officers.
But there it is, staring New York City’s government in the face, as officers leave in droves, and crime increases exponentially.
Nothing may stop the drop in officer numbers for this year.
However, for 2023 this writer remains hopeful that Kathy Hochul and her administration do something — anything — to turn this dire situation around.
This includes hiring more officers with greater benefits and support; hiring back officers ignorantly terminated over a vaccination mandate; providing them with back pay, as well as just simply genuinely caring about its police department and its men and women in blue who so unselfishly serve.
Otherwise, The City That Never Sleeps will find itself even more awake, because it’s unprotected.
Michael Letts is the Founder and CEO of InVest USA, a national grassroots non-profit organization helping to re-fund police by contributing thousands of bulletproof vests for police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs. He also has over 30 years of law enforcement experience. Read More Michael Letts reports – Here.
