As the city strives to get crime under control, the flood of cops quitting the NYPD couldn\u2019t come at a worse time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As The Post reported<\/a>, 239 officers high-tailed it out in January and February, a 36% spike from the same period last year. That\u2019s more than double the 110 who left in 2021 and the most since 250 quit amid a contract dispute 16 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fueling the outflow: \u201cCops are being forced to work an inhumane amount of overtime . . . while being penalized\u201d for minor infractions, one cop said. Officers feel they can\u2019t do their jobs, thanks to pols\u2019 anti-cop attitudes and pro-criminal laws like cashless bail that put perps back on the street only hours after cops arrest them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s left the department headcount 2,467 (7%) cops short of 2020\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet overtime has been crucial to one of the NYPD\u2019s biggest wins of late, the turnaround in subway crime, as Nicole Gelinas notes<\/a>. With current levels of OT unsustainable for much longer, that victory could vanish all too soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, almost every precinct is under-staffed, sources say; they \u201cbarely have enough personnel to meet the minimum required to safely answer 911 calls.\u201d Response times are up troublingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet Albany\u2019s progressives resist<\/a> even Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s small fix to the no-bail law. Meanwhile, the NYPD has lowered training requirements, scrapping the timed 1.5-mile run<\/a>, presumably to attract more recruits. Never mind that cops who aren\u2019t sufficiently fit won\u2019t make the city safer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That decision, by the way, came despite opposition from Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, raising questions of who\u2019s really in charge. Juanita Holmes, then chief of training, told The Post she won the mayor\u2019s approval to ditch the run, apparently sidestepping Sewell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adams also undermined Sewell<\/a> when he praised Holmes for having Cardi B talk at the Police Academy without Sewell\u2019s permission. (The rapper\u2019s criminal past and raunchy work drove the commish\u2019s objection.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plus, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks has reportedly met with NYPD brass without Sewell present. Recall, too, that Hizzoner created that position<\/a> for Banks, an old friend and a one-time contender to head the NYPD who quit amid a corruption scandal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such chain-of-command confusion doesn\u2019t help amid soaring resignations, staff shortages, broken criminal-justice laws and crime rates still above the lows<\/a> of a few years ago. Despite some recent gains, major felonies last week were still up 47% over the same week in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of which bodes ill for public safety in the medium term. Adams, who was elected based on his vow to rein in crime, needs to get his house in order fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n