Nearly a quarter of NYPD officers who responded to an academic survey said they were actively looking to leave the department — a statistic experts say could further strain an organization whose staffing levels are already at decade lows .
The survey was part of a study published by CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice and asked officers at the rank-and-file level to evaluate their commitment to the department. It included seven statements ranging from “I am actively looking to change careers (leave policing) and I will leave the NYPD as soon as a feasible opportunity arises” to “I am unsure how I feel about the NYPD/neutral.”
Participants were then asked to select the top five reasons for how they felt. The possible reasons included compensation, the cleanliness of their work environment and condition of equipment, work-life balance, job fulfillment, treatment from supervisors and the risk of getting in trouble after interactions with the public.
During summer 2023, the researchers sent more than 25,000 emails and received 1,823 complete responses, which were all anonymous. Nearly 23% of the respondents indicated they intended to leave the NYPD or the profession in the near term.