NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The NYPD is hosting a 2-day event in which officers who’d rather enter retirement than take a COVID-19 vaccine can submit their resignations.
The police Pension Fund is organizing the event at police headquarters and will be on-site Friday and Sunday at 1 Police Plaza in Manhattan to process paperwork for cops looking to retire, according to the Daily News.
The paper reported that Friday’s event will be for officers looking to retire with 20 years or more on the job and Sunday’s event will be for officers with between five and 20 years under their belts.
After five years on the job, an officer is eligible for retirement benefits, however, they will not receive their $12,000-per-year variable supplements fund payout and will be unable to go on terminal leave, the Daily News reported.
The events are planned in light of a New York City mandate stating that all city employees – including police officers, firefighters, sanitation workers and more – receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Monday, or risk being placed on unpaid leave.
While NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea on Thursday issued a plea to department members to get vaccinated, data showed that over 20% of the force was still unvaccinated.
The Police Benevolent Association has attempted to halt the mandate, and others have called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to rethink his decision.
Though, the mayor has stayed firm.
“My job is to keep people safe — my employees, and 8.8 million people,” De Blasio said at a virtual news briefing Thursday. “And until we defeat COVID, people are not safe. If we don’t stop COVID, New Yorkers will die.”
De Blasio believes the city will continue to see a surge in vaccinations among city workers right up until the 5 p.m. deadline on Friday.
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