New York Police Pension Fund data reveals that 3,701 members of the New York Police Department (NYPD) left last year, with 1,746 quitting and 1,955 retiring. The drop off is the largest in decades, with crime in the city soaring.

“The NYPD is playing a dangerous game by refusing to acknowledge and address its recruitment and retention crisis,” President of the New York City Police Benevolent Association Patrick Lynch said, per Fox News. “New Yorkers are demanding more police presence in their neighborhoods and on the subway, but we just don’t have the staffing to provide it consistently.”

“Many talented, dedicated recruits don’t want to raise their hand for the NYPD because they’ll be paid better and treated better at almost any other police department,” Lynch said. “New York City needs to make a major investment in paying and treating its police officers like professionals. It can’t afford not to.”

The Police Benevolent Association said last month that the force had a recruitment goal of about 1,200, but saw under 600 new recruits, not even reaching a quarter of their goal of 2,500. As of January 11, 2023, the NYPD headcount has decreased from 33,822 to just 35,030.

In 2020, 3,315 NYPD officers left the force and 2,811 left in 2021.

The 2022  dropoff is “the largest figure recorded in the last 20 years,” according to Fox News, as 3,846 members quit in 2002.

Officers leaving the force have said that morale in America’s largest police department is low. They say their reason for leaving the force is usually due to low morale and many leave before they’ve even gotten a full pension. New York Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has underseen high levels of assaults, with crime rising 21 percent compared to 2021

Local news reports that there were 433 murders in the Big Apple in 2022, a decrease from 488 murders in 2021. Adams said the murder rate is still noticeably higher than the 318 figure seen in 2019.