THE NYPD 'GIG TURNED TO SHIT' DUE TO THE CITY'S SOFT-ON-CRIME POLICIES

“Screw this city and it’s leaders”: Thousands of NYPD officers leaving before getting full pensions

 

by Chris Elliot 

 

Law Enforcement Today

August 7, 2022

 

 

Thomas Gambardella, who reportedly made $164K last year and was named Officer of the Year in 2006, said he loved his job when he started out, but the gig turned “shit” due to the city’s increasingly soft-on-crime policies

 

NEW YORK, NY – The New York Police Department is losing officers by the thousands, not because of retirement, injury, or people moving away, but rather because they have had “enough” according to the PBA.

The PBA claims the agency should admit there is a problem and fix it as opposed to denying the issue exists.

At the New York Police Department, officers must work a minimum of twenty years to receive their full pension benefits which the majority have until recently.

New reports provided by the NYPD pension fund, obtained by the New York Post, is showing that there is a large number of the 2,456 officers that have filed paperwork to leave the agency this year are doing so before they reach that milestone.

The reason why is up for debate. According to the NYPD, is it because there is a large number of rookie officers graduating from the police academy as the NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey claims?

Or is it because of the seemingly constant negative attention the officers are getting from the media, social activists, and liberal lawmakers claiming the agency is crooked and they should be defunded?

The NYPD Police Benevolent Association President, Patrick Lynch, believes the number of officers who are leaving the agency is doing so because of how they are treated. Every day there seems to be a new media release where an officer has been attacked simply for doing their job, and in some cases by those alleged criminals who should have been in custody.

In an interview with the Post, Lynch commented on the number of officers leaving by saying:

“We have had retirement waves caused by large academy classes before – they were nothing like this. This exodus is the result of cops in the prime of their careers deciding they have had enough. The NYPD should stop trying to explain this staffing crisis away, admit there’s a problem and help us fix it.”

Lynch explained his reasoning for the officers to be leaving before obtaining their full pension by saying:

“They are leaving for other opportunities where they’re paid better, treated better and have a better quality of life.”

Part of the problem may also be that the criminals seemingly have no fear of consequences for their actions. After all, when everyone in the country knows that you can attack a cop and be home by dinner, especially when you are a juvenile, what is to fear?

For those that may not believe that last sentence is true, ask the two NYPD Transit officers who were attacked by a pair of teenagers when they were told to leave a subway station after jumping the turnstile to avoid paying the fare.

The two teenagers were arrested after officers were able to gain control thanks to an MTA worker, however, were released with a court date after going to family court.

One of those teenagers arrested has previously been in trouble for robbery and possession of a loaded gun.

But instead of focusing on the alleged criminals and holding them accountable, Lynch and others believe the hostile work environment allegedly carried on by the department is forcing officers to leave.

In June, an officer known only as Dave spoke to the Post about his decision to leave the NYPD after only being employed for seven years. He said that the work environment is “oppressive” and added:

“As soon as I left, I felt a huge weight off my shoulders. And the sad part is that the job doesn’t need to be this way. I hear it all the time from friends who went to other police departments. They say, ‘They treat me like an adult here.’”

The 41-year-old Staten Island resident was a decorated officer, according to the New York Post.

When his retirement became official, he posted a comment on Facebook.

“I never posted ‘work pictures’ or ‘work’ posts…a chunk of you all probably didn’t even know I worked in the NYPD…but I’m officially retired today. From this sorry excuse for a s— job…Thank God, I’m free at last! Not my problem anymore…I loved everyone I worked with, and ‘some’ of the people I worked for…but this job is no-ones [sic] friend…Time to live free! I’ll see you all out there!”

The post was accompanied by multiple photos, one of which included the divorced father of three, wearing a Let’s Go Brandon shirt, giving the middle finger to a memorial at the NYPD headquarters.

The 2006 NYPD Officer of the Year spoke with the Post, telling them he loved the job when he started, but the “gig turned to shit” due to the city’s soft-on-crime policies.

The now retired detective, whose Facebook profile states that he is a “Patriot, Conservative, Christian” and that he retired from the WORST “JOB” in the World, did not hold back in sharing his thoughts.

“All that talk about the ‘big blue family.’ They don’t care,” Thomas Gambardella said

Thomas Gambardella had an interesting way to say goodbye to the NYPD

 

“I was a true believer,” Gambardella said.

“I wasn’t a bag of shit. I worked some intricate details. I gave a lot of my blood, sweat and tears. But no more. It’s the worst f—ing job in the world. They own you. They’re not your friends. All that talk about the ‘big blue family.’ They don’t care. If I die tomorrow, they wouldn’t give a shit. If I needed something, it ain’t gonna happen. I’m better off just saying a prayer.”

He pointed to increased hostility towards police, calls to defund, limitations on what cops could and couldn’t do, accompanied with the liberal policy making as the reasons for his attitude change.

“Crime is soaring and cops are leaving in droves,” he told the Post. “Anybody can see that. All this liberalism is obviously a failure. But this is what they wanted. It’s a stupid experiment and it’s the people who will pay in the end.”

(Continue reading for more on the fact that officers are leaving the NYPD in record numbers)

While some have applauded his statements, others have taken issue with them as well as the photo he posted.

“‘The majority of officers who retire are proud of their careers and their service with the NYPD,’ a high-ranking police source told The Post when asked about Gambardella.”

The statue he is flipping off depicts a police officer watching over the child of a fallen officer.

Some officers purchase miniature versions of the monument and engrave the fallen officer’s shield number on it and provide it to their family.

While some have taken exception to the way he left the job, Gambardella said he hasn’t received much backlash.

“I have a disease,” Gambardella said. “It’s called diarrhea of the mouth. People who know me know I’m like this. I don’t cower down.”