NYPD brass is stepping up efforts to fill the department’s depleted ranks with a new recruitment drive at this year’s annual “Back the Blue” ceremony, including an advertising blitz.
The Big Apple police department has been hemorrhaging cops in recent years, losing more than 14,000 rank and file officers since 2020, with nearly 3,500 more expected to flee this year — and just 8,000 applying to join this year compared to 18,000 in 2017, officials said.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Tuesday that the department has begun turning it around, with a goal to hit 35,000 cops in uniform next year — but needs a bit of a boost to get back to full staffing.
There were 36,000 uniformed officers on the job in 2019.
“For all the talk about a staffing crisis, the truth is that we are in the midst of building back and building back in a big way,” Tisch said. “Our headcount for January 2026 is projected to exceed this year’s and the momentum is unmistakable. That’s not just a statistic. It is a sign of renewal.
“We are rebuilding our ranks. We are renewing the vitality of the NYPD, and we are showing the people of this city that the police are not just part of New York. We are the foundation on which it stands.”
This year’s Back the Blue fundraiser will include an advertising push to lure more men and woman into the ranks, with the National Law Enforcement Foundation announcing new NYPD ad spots.
Supermarket mogul and radio personality John Catsimatidis, a member of the Police Athletic League, will be chipping in more than $1 million in police recruitment advertising, the commissioner said.
“John and [wife] Margo are once again showing their unwavering support for the NYPD,” Tisch said. “Their generosity will directly strengthen our recruitment efforts, helping us find more New Yorkers who feel called to serve and reminding them what it means to wear this uniform with pride and it could not come at a more important time.”
The top cop said nearly 3,000 new cops were hired since November — the most in 20 years — and more than 2,200 have graduated from the police academy, with one more class due before year’s end.
She said the department is now on track to break the 1984 record of 3,231 recruits, the largest ever.
The number of Big Apple cops has since dropped, particularly in recent years — prompting brass to lower college credit and other traditional requirements in an effort to get more folks to apply.
The Post reported last year that an average of about 200 cops were leaving the force each month.
“It’s important that we understand, you know, we can talk about better, housing, cheaper things, if we don’t have public safety in New York City public city and in this country we’re going nowhere,” retired NYPD cop and former senate candidate Michael Sapraicone said at Tuesday’s ceremony.
“It’s so important for us to Back the Blue and understand without public safety we cannot go further in the city of this country,” he added.
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