NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The NYPD is experiencing a “hiring crisis” not due to budget, but because of a lack of applicants, Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a preliminary budget hearing before the New York City Council on Tuesday.
According to Tisch, recruitment has become difficult since the rise of the “defund and anti-police movements” in recent years, evidenced by the NYPD ranks dropping from 37,000 uniformed officers in 2018 to 33,000 today.
“A lot of the rhetoric aimed at our police is vile, and the pendulum has swung too far away from what I consider to be the most important and noble job that anyone could do, and we must swing it back,” she said.
Mayor Eric Adams has greenlit every class the NYPD has sought to bring in, but Tisch said that the applicants are not there due to the prevalent negative public perception of the job.
“It was not that long ago when people would wait years to get the call to join the academy and every incoming class was at capacity,” Tisch said. “Now, we are practically begging people to take the exam.”
Dropping numbers have prompted the commissioner to make the decision to reduce the college credit requirement to become a police officer from 60 to 24 (if the applicant hasn’t completed two years of active military service).
Tisch wanted to be clear during her speech that the primary job of NYPD officers is to protect New Yorkers, and they will follow all laws set by city government.
“We are not going to engage in civil immigration enforcement period,” she said. “That means that despite our objections to the How Many Stops Act, we will meet its requirements.”
The How Many Stops Act—passed into law in December 2023 despite opposition from Adams and the Police Benevolence Association—requires officers to report all street stops relevant to an investigation. With reference to that and another bill that would ban the department’s criminal group database, the commissioner acknowledged a public idea that the NYC Council is legislating against the NYPD. She pleaded with its members to help her change that, and consider a more collaborative approach of reform.
“That database is a critical intelligence tool that helps the NYPD save lives,” she said. “If you want to work with us to improve the database, by all means, let’s craft a bill together.”
The address comes only days after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo—the frontrunner in a crowded NYC mayoral Democratic primary—announced his plan to hire 5,000 more police officers if elected.
According to Cuomo, any financial burden would be offset by lower overtime costs, though he did not acknowledge the difficulties in recruiting that Tisch laid out on Tuesday.