'No Help Is Coming Any Time Soon': NYPD's Retirement Rate Soars, Union President Lambasts De Blasio's 'Lunacy'

AP featured image — New York City Police Academy graduates salute during the national anthem at their graduation ceremony, adding 457 new members of the NYPD, Thursday April 18, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Cops in New York continue to call it quits.

Since the riots began months ago and law enforcement was told to stand down…and as some in government began their “Defund the Police” campaigns…men and women in blue have been retiring in droves.

That’s especially true in New York City, and a report by Fox News highlights the migration of LEOs from on-the-job to out-of-the-industry.

As relayed Saturday, the nation’s largest police force continues to suffer shrinkage.

In a recent email to Fox, the NYPD admitted that, as of October 6th, 2,385 officers had submitted for retirement.

That number dwarfs stats one year ago, to the tune of an 87% increase.

And just since the 6th, 372 more have resigned.

The numbers were similarly stunning before this month: From March 26th to October 5th, 1,838 cops retired. Compare that to last year’s 999 — a leap of 84%.

It’s not difficult to find factors.

In a statement to FNC, NYPD union President Patrick J. Lynch held no prisoners:

“[T]hanks to the City Council and Mayor’s ‘Defund the Police’ lunacy, no help is coming any time soon. Our elected leaders need to be held responsible for the dangerous path they’ve chosen.”

They’ve got their work cut out for them. And it isn’t just the rank-and-file leaving:

One of the most prominent losses was Chief of Patrol Fausto Pichardo, who oversees the “largest and most visible” unit within the NYPD — the Patrol Services Bureau.

Pichardo, the NYPD’s first Dominican chief of patrol, filed for retirement Tuesday after more than two decades on the job. He has held the position since Dec. 5, 2019.

According to a source speaking to the New York Post, Fausto’s stepping down may have involved the personal behavior of the mayor.

From Fox:

[S]ources told the Post that de Blasio, a Democrat, berated Pichardo for missing a phone call following an hours-long shift responding to recent unrest in Brooklyn, where crowds including Orthodox Jews protested against state coronavirus restrictions.

De Blasio “routinely loses his s–t about missed phone calls,” a source told the Post, which provided multiple examples of the mayor’s controlling behavior toward Pichardo.

“This is nothing but inappropriate meddling from a person who doesn’t know anything about patrol — even though he has been here for seven years,” the source added.

The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association of the City of New York had a thing or two to say about it:

PBA STATEMENT ON CHIEF OF PATROL FAUSTO PICHARDO’S RETIREMENT pic.twitter.com/97uVneO5ZA

— NYC PBA (@NYCPBA) October 14, 2020

Unsurprisingly, the five boroughs’ badged are no fans of the Democratic Party. As I covered in August, going completely against convention, the NYPD officially endorsed a presidential candidate: Donald J. Trump.

It probably didn’t help Dems that de Blasio cut the city’s cop budget by more than $1 billion.

Of course, if everyone retires, they won’t need any funds.

#Fixed.

And according to some, it seems, America will be all the safer for it.

Meanwhile, the numbers don’t appear to back that up.

Union President Patrick pointed out: