New York facing ‘epidemic’ of anti-police violence: report
NEW YORK – The streets of New York were a contentious battleground between New York Police Department officers and suspects with a record 5,563 cops injured on the job in 2023, according to department data.
Of the total, nearly 1,300 NYPD officers were injured in altercations with suspects during the last quarter alone. New York’s finest also were particularly under attack in the Bronx with 135 cops injured from the 40th precinct in Mott Haven.
NYPD cops have been increasingly targeted by suspects in recent years. The department recorded 4,724 injuries in 2022 and 3,933 in 2021.
An expert, in speaking to the New York Post, credited the uptick in anti-cop violence to “radical protests, an influx of criminal migrants, bail reform, anti-cop rhetoric and soft-on-crime prosecutors.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has downgraded over 50% of felony cases to misdemeanors since he took office.
CNN was left perplexed after two NYPD officers were recently attacked in Times Square.
While deep blue New York struggles to protect its very own in blue, some New York officers have traded in their badge and uniform for the friendlier law enforcement confines of Florida.
“We are seeing a lot of New York’s finest leave the Empire State and head to Florida—more than 230 since July 2022,” Attorney General Ashley Moody said recently.
At least 2,500 NYPD officers left the department in 2023, the fourth highest total in the past decade. The exits also marks a 43% increase from 2018 when 1,750 left the force.
Moody’s office specified a list of incentives for cops to move to Florida, including $5,000 recruitment bonuses, $1,000 allotment for basic training, and $25,000 each for down payment assistance and for officers to adopt a child from Florida’s system.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, furthering Florida’s pro-cop approach, handed out the 4,000th bonus to a law enforcement recruit in January.
According to the Florida Department of Commerce, the state has spent more than $27 million toward bringing in new officers from other states.
“Almost 400 of the 4,000 come from just three states: New York, California and Illinois,” DeSantis said. “You probably would have guessed that.”
