The ranks of the NYPD have dropped to their lowest level in almost a decade, amid the rise in the “defund the police” movement, and despite crime spiking.

72% Increase In NYPD Retirement

By October 6th this year, around 2,385 NYPD officers had decided to retire, a massive 72% increase from the same period in 2019, when 1,262 NYPD officers retired.

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The total so far this year already tops out the whole 2019 total, of 1,788 officers.

In fact, it’s more than the total of any year since 2010, according to the Police Benevolent Union, New York City’s largest police union.

“We’re living through very challenging times,” NYPD Chief of Personnel Martin Morales said.

Officers of all ranks and stripes have decided to quit the force, Morales noted, including “very tenured investigators” and supervisors.

“From January to May, we averaged about 200 retirements a month,” Morales continued.

But when looking at June through September, “we have averaged nearly 400, so we have doubled. Last year, I had only one month that was above 200,” he added.

‘Defund The Police’ Movement A Potential Factor

Morales speculated a number of reasons why NYPD officers could be leaving in droves, including anti-police sentiment, the rise in the movement to defund the police, bail reform, among other factors.

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“It could be one of those or a combination of all of them,” he said.

The spike in police retirements from June onwards certainly correlates with the push to defund the police, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the end of May.

The Minneapolis City Council voted to defund their police department in July of this year, and saw a huge rise in crime afterward.

Spikes Also Seen In Violent Crime And Rioting

New York City’s spike in violent crime has been described as historic.

September saw a 91% increase in shootings, with 152 in the city that month alone, passing all previous Septembers in gun arrests since tracking first began in 1994.

Murders and burglaries were also up 40% and 42% respectively when compared to the same months of 2019.

Violent crime, in the form of riots, continue to erupt across the country as well.

Protesters ran riot in the sleepy suburb of Wauwatosa in Wisconsin this week, after a black officer shot a black 17 year old who allegedly had an illegal firearm.

The riots are likely another key factor in the “blue flight” of NYPD officers, and officers all across the country, from the job they once loved.

This piece originally appeared in ThePoliticalInsider.com and is used by permission.

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