According to Fox news
The New York Police Department – said to be the largest police force in the nation – is in the grip of a “troubling” shakeup, as retirements and resignations continue to mount, officials said.
Union officials and others say the exodus is being fueled in part by pressure by racial justice advocates to defund police departments or impose major reforms.
The NYPD said in an email to Fox News this week that 2,385 officers have submitted their retirement papers this year as of Oct. 6 – an 87% increase from the 1,274 retirements reported during the same period in 2019.
The department said 372 others have resigned as of Oct. 6, five more than last year.
From March 26 to Oct. 5, 1,838 officers retired, compared to 999 during the same period in 2019, a surge of 84%, the NYPD said.
“The NYPD has seen a surge in the number of officers filing for retirement,” a spokesperson said in an email to Fox News this week. “While the decision to retire is a personal one and can be attributed to a range of factors, it is a troubling trend that we are closely monitoring.”
As of this week, the department’s headcount stood at just under 34,500, according to an NYPD spokesperson.
One of the most prominent losses was Chief of Patrol Fausto Pichardo, who oversees the “largest and most visible” unit within the NYPD — the Patrol Services Bureau.
Pichardo, the NYPD’s first Dominican chief of patrol, filed for retirement Tuesday after more than two decades on the job. He has held the position since Dec. 5, 2019.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea lauded Pichardo, 43, for his service at the helm of the Patrol Services Bureau, telling local affiliate FOX 5 that the department is also losing “a friend and a member of our blue family.”
Fausto Pichardo, more than the @NYPDChiefPatrol, a friend & member of our NYPD family. A consummate professional & the ”total package,” we wish him the best of luck in his retirement. His departure is a huge loss.
Thx, @fox5ny, for having me on.
Full ?: https://t.co/dGSfcraPdj pic.twitter.com/1C130TesXi
— Commissioner Shea (@NYPDShea) October 16, 2020
“Fausto, when I tabbed him last year to be the chief of patrol, I never hesitated for a second, and I never regretted the decision for a second,” Shea said, calling him a “consummate professional.”
“Probably one of the most well-rounded individuals that we have. The total package. [A] huge loss and I wish him the best of luck.”
Shea previously told PIX 11 that “putting it mildly … I was surprised that he’s leaving.”
But sources first told the New York Post and later confirmed to Fox News, that Pichardo’s decision to retire was spurred in part by de Blasio’s micromanaging.
“I think he knew better to call Shea and beat him up, so … he called Pichardo instead, and he had enough,” a law enforcement source told Fox News. “I believe that it was a steady drumbeat” that got “louder and louder,” until “it ultimately led to” his retirement, the source said.
Other sources told the Post that de Blasio, a Democrat, berated Pichardo for missing a phone call following an hours-long shift responding to recent unrest in Brooklyn, where crowds including Orthodox Jews protested against state coronavirus restrictions.