The New York Police Department saw more officers resign in 2022 than at any time in the last 20 years. Many are going to other cities for more pay and a lower cost of living.
In some parts of the country, a cop can start at $79,000 a year. The average state police officer earns $62,000 a year in Kentucky. In Colorado, the Denver suburb of Aurora will pay officers with four or more years' experience $100,000 a year. Homes are roughly $200,000 cheaper there, and rent is about $3,000 a month less.
But in New York, where the cost of living is significantly higher, the NYPD starts their officers out at $42,000 a year
Randy Sutton of The Wounded Blue says New York City is training them up and sending them off.
"These officers have been working without a contract for five years, no raises in five years; they're making $47,000 a year," he relays. "So what they're doing is getting the training and then going to other departments where they're making double what they're making in New York City."
Recruiting has gotten so bad in both New York and Los Angeles that the departments are starting to cut corners.
"Both the LAPD and NYPD have recently announced that they are diminishing the standards of hiring," Sutton laments.
Meanwhile, other police departments are starting to climb back from the Democrat-imposed defund deficits, but he says things are a long way from being fixed.
"You can't just push a button and suddenly you have enough officers who are competent, qualified, and ready to hit the streets," Sutton concludes. "To right this ship will take a generation."
