Hundreds of veteran NYPD gumshoes are leaving the force, fueling fears that cases and criminals will fall through the cracks, The Post has learned.
The NYPD saw 370 detectives retire in 2023 and 422 so far in 2024, a 14% increase, NYPD data shows.
The number of detectives has shrunk by 30%, from about 7,000 in 2001 to 5,500 this year.
“You lose all the people who have this experience,” said Detective Kim Cenizal, 47, who has worked at the crime scene for 11 years and plans to retire in January. “All our cases are big and there are bad guys in them who for one reason or another should not be on the streets.”
Ironically, the exodus is motivated by favorable overtime pay.
Mayor Adams flooded the subway with police as underground crime soared.
Overtime pushed the average OT detective’s salary from about $115,000 to $200,000 or more.
Because their lifetime pension is based on their final annual salary, many detectives conclude that they cannot afford to stay.
But many worry that less experienced investigators will lead to more cases failing in court.
The NYPD’s solution rate hovers just below 50% for new homicides every year.
“That’s a big part of why I don’t want to leave,” Cenizal said. “But the reasons for leaving weigh more heavily.”
Bronx homicide detective Robert Klein, 45, finds himself working more overtime than ever after 20 years.
“There’s literally overtime you can volunteer every weekend, and I’ve taken advantage of that,” he said.
The father of four has been working five days a week investigating murders and then dons his blue uniform on weekends to police the subway.
“If I slow down the overtime now, my pension amount will start to decrease,” he said. ‘And you know that this pension does not only apply to me. It’s for my family, for my children. It is an investment and I have worked in law enforcement for more than twenty years.”
Crime in the metro is down 7% this year, but murders in the metro are up 80% this year, NYPD data shows.
Mayor Adams promised this week to hire another 1,200 new officers. That new manpower could lead to a decrease in OT for detectives, making the time for retirement even more ripe.
Klein is also concerned about what the liberal police will do to the police profession in the future.
He cited the “How Many Stops Act,” which requires him to keep track of the age, gender and race of every witness he interviews in his cases, “so they can be used against the police department.”
“Are we going to continue to legislate against the police?” he asked. “It just doesn’t seem like it’s moving in the direction of good, solid police work.”
Bombardment Service Det. Kevin Canavan is concerned about the future of his 32-strong unit, which has 24 members with more than 20 years of experience.
“It would decimate the bomb squad if we just got up and left,” he said.
The Detectives Endowment Association is pushing for legislation that would change the pay system so that detectives’ pensions would be based on a final three-year average, union officials said.
“Our most experienced investigators are retiring,” said DEA President Scott Munro. “We don’t have enough people to do the job. New York residents are paying the price for overwhelmed and understaffed squadrons.”
Retired Detective Ed Nusser, 45, left Ballistics in 2022 along with 508 other detectives — a year dwarfed in terms of retirement only by 2020, when more than 800 detectives left at the start of the pandemic.
“When I first joined the unit, you had more detectives over 20 than under 10,” said Nusser, who investigated thousands of shootings. “Now of the approximately 45 detectives in the unit, only two are over the age of 20.”
