The safety of New York City is more tenuous than many realize, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s policies may tip the scales.
A New York Post report reveals just how dangerous it could be for Mamdani to cut overtime, which would dramatically impact pensions and send “thousands of veteran NYPD bosses and gumshoes” into retirement.
“Forty-five of 82 [Joint Terrorism Task Force] detectives – or 55% – have 20 years under their belts, which is enough time on the job to leave with a full pension, according to union data,” the outlet reported. “There are 5,121 active detectives in the NYPD, and 1,193 of them — or 23% — are in the same boat, eligible for a full pension after 20 years.”
“Another 698 lieutenants, or about 42% of the total 1,669, could retire today; 518 captains, or 66% of the 780, could leave; and 954 sergeants, representing about 22% of the 4,300 total, could exit at any time, according to union data,” the article continued.
Union officials are concerned that Mamdani’s policies, which come off as blatantly anti-police, could discourage new hires and encourage existing law enforcement to take the first available exit, leaving the people of New York City with even less safety than before.
“If they have a big overtime year, they have to go,” said Detectives Endowment Association President Scott Munro, pointing out that officers who feel no support from the city’s mayor are going to be less likely to stay.
“What’s happening is people are getting in our police officers’ faces. They’re harassing them out there in the street,” he said.
Lieutenants Benevolent Association President Lou Turco said that unions can no longer control the number of officers leaving the job.
“Once you hit 20 [years], the department loses control. If I have a really good year of overtime and the department decides it wants to cut overtime, I have to leave,” he said.
While the overtime cuts are being downplayed as a practical cost-cutting measure aimed at helping balance the city’s budget, officers aren’t believing this so easily.
“I did 30 years because it was a good job, I was getting good overtime, and I was enjoying it,” said retired NYPD Detective Michael Alcazar. “But now these guys are not because they’re backfilling patrol. Detectives and lieutenants are back on patrol. You know when you’ve got 20, 25 years, you don’t want to put the bag back on and get on foot post, which is what they’re doing.”
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch claims that things are perfectly fine, testifying to retirements being on par with hiring numbers from 20 years ago.
“She added that the NYPD had the ‘largest hiring year on record – more than 4,000 officers’ last year,” the Post reported. “The department not only outpaced attrition in 2025, we essentially brought the NYPD back to its authorized uniformed headcount for the first time in three years,” Tisch said. The agency ended 2025 with about 800 more officers than it did on average over the last three years, officials said.
“We are not in a hiring crisis anymore,” she explained. “We ended 2025 at a headcount of 34,769 — just 250 shy of our authorized headcount.”
But it’s the prospect of losing a large number of senior officers and having the streets run by rookies who haven’t gotten a full grasp on the job that concerns some.
“I have senior detectives telling their kids, ‘Do not come on this job,’” Munro noted. “And that’s not the way this job used to be.”
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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