The neglect of our fellow police officers by the U.S. government has been ongoing for some time. However, a recent statistic within the New York Police Department might be too big for even them to ignore.
I’m speaking about a recent report by the New York Post with some very startling figures. In it, it shows that nearly 2,500 police officers filed to leave the department – that’s a 42% increase over the 1,700-plus officers who had resigned at the same time last year.
But an even more startling number from the report reveals that around 1,098 of this year’s officers aren’t even leaving with some form of retirement. Seventy-one percent are resigning without reaching their 20-year pension with the force, a huge leap from the previous year.
NYPD Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch noted that “voluntary quits,” as he’s calling them, are leading the “stampede” of officers leaving the force. He noted that “retirement waves caused by large academy classes” happened beforehand, but “nothing like this.”
Continued Lynch: “This exodus is the result of cops in the prime of their careers deciding they have had enough. The NYPD should stop trying to explain this staffing crisis away. Admit there’s a problem and help us fix it.”
It sounds like Lynch is just as frustrated as I am when it comes to seeing good officers have to turn a cold shoulder to the line-of-duty because of insurmountable conditions. It’s getting so much worse out on the streets these days, especially with movements like BLM and Antifa screaming about corruption inside police forces.
But what’s even more bothersome than whatever these groups are saying is the complete silence that comes from the government when it comes to supporting the men and women in blue. Too often we’ve seen bills that could help support them with a larger budget get shelves because of doubt of where the money would go, as part of some political agenda to make the House members look high and mighty. But what’s that do for our officers? The answer? No good.
Too many of these officers have seen too many late nights of trying to provide justice, only to see very little reward from it. And without the funding to provide them the proper mental care to do their job, they find it’s just easier to walk away. That doesn’t bode well for the officers that remain on duty.
And we’ve seen what happens as a result of lack of help from the government. On the one hand, some officers are ill-equipped to handle what’s thrown at them – for instance, 24-year old Noah Shahnavaz, an Indiana police officer who was shot and killed during a recent traffic stop, without the proper gear to keep him alive.
If you need a more vivid example, how about what’s happening in Chicago? Last month, the Chicago Police Department decided to cancel time off requests by officers and extend their hours of work to 12-hour days in response to three officers who had committed suicide over the previous weeks. So, instead of taking those that have lost their brothers and sisters to the toils of their duty, you’re going to put them through their own? That’s a terrible choice.
The fact of the matter is this: We need the police. Love them or hate them all you want, but they need to be on duty and protecting the innocent from God knows what criminals lurk out there. Without them, we have chaos. Plain and simple.
New York should take these statistics to heart and realize there’s a problem. Chicago as well. And every other police agency that has seen officers leave because they’re not getting the care or equipment they deserve to do their job. This should be a warning call that our officers deserve everything they can get to perform their duty properly. And that includes adequate hours and the kind of vest (like InVest USA provides) that will bring them home in one piece.
Otherwise, police forces will see a serious exodus in this country. And that’ll leave the politicians wondering whom to blame when criminals run rampant. Hey, all they need to do is look in a mirror – because this is on them.
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