Police officers in New York City are coming under attack at a record pace as the number of criminals allowed to walk the streets and the number of illegal immigrants in the Big Apple skyrockets.
In 2023, the number of officers injured by violent suspects was just over 4,000 during the first nine months of the year. NYPD statistics indicate that the total number of violent events is expected to be around 5,400.
In the year 2022, that number was approximately 4,700 – an increase of 20 percent compared to 2021, when the number was approximately 3,950.
According to the New York PostPatrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said the record number of officers assaulted is a “full-blown epidemic.”
“The brutal attacks on police officers we have seen recently do not come out of nowhere. This dangerous environment has been building for years,” he said.
“Things won’t get better until those who attack police officers are consistently prosecuted and held in prison. And that won’t happen unless New Yorkers continue to speak out and demand an end to the chaos.”
Data from the first three quarters of 2023 shows that 261 of the injuries inflicted on officers were categorized as substantial or serious – a number that puts this year on track to see a 10 percent spike in the figure.
The shocking data has come to light as attention is drawn to the dozens or more illegal immigrants responsible for the violent attacks on police officers in Times Square.
Only one of the suspects has ever received a prison sentence for the crime.
Last week, hyper-progressive Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg belatedly announced that he was charging several of the officers’ attackers with felonies.
Four of the migrants charged Thursday are believed to have fled NYC after being arrested and released without bail: Darwin Gomez, Kelvin Servita, Wilson Juarez and Yorman Reveron.
New York City in particular has struggled under the weight of tens of thousands of migrants arriving at its borders in need of places to stay and other accommodations.
In 2023 alone, the city had to deal with the arrival of more than 100,000 migrants.
Mayor Eric Adams has said the cost of New York City’s migrant crisis is as much as $4.6 billion.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul last month pledged to spend $2.4 billion on the crisis, more than double last year’s proposal. There is still no plan to curb the number of migrants pouring into New York, nor the violence law enforcement officers encounter every day.
Officers have faced a growing number of publicly hostile incidents, including several in January.
On January 17, a Brooklyn woman was charged after intentionally mowing down an officer with her car at 72nd and Park Avenue. She reportedly told authorities: ‘F**k these officers, it’s a lesson for him.’
A few days later, a police officer was hit in the head by a psychotic criminal in Brooklyn; two other officers were also sent to hospital after the violent crime.
And just before the new year, a teenager from Brooklyn Academy High School was arrested after physically assaulting and spitting on an officer outside the school.
Jhoan Boada, 22, was arrested in connection with the attack and was pictured leaving the courthouse with his middle fingers up at reporters and grinning
The man believed to be at the center of the attack, Yohenry Brito, 24, is the only one of the suspects being held on bail. He is currently being held at Rikers Island
A man, right, is surrounded by three units of New York Police Department officers as they try to calm the man down on October 3, 2023 in New York City. The agitated man claimed he and his car had been offensive to an inspection
Sergeants Benevolent Association President Vincent Vallelong told the Post that he believes the reason many NYPD officers are injured on the job is because “criminals have been emboldened because there are no consequences for resisting arrest or fighting with cops.”
“If today’s criminals aren’t afraid to attack police officers, they have even less qualms about hurting civilians.”
“You have too many city council members who hate the police and want to abolish them,” says the retired NYPD sergeant. Joseph Giacalone, adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Over the past two years, NYPD officers have been handing over their badges in record numbers, a pattern Adams has called a “law enforcement crisis.”
In 2022, about 3,700 officers surrendered their badges, the highest number since the September 11 attacks more than twenty years ago.
Last year, nearly 250 officers quit in the first two months of the year.
This time last year, nearly every police department was understaffed, driving up response times and forcing the mayor’s office to focus on the problem of police recruitment, which today’s bill passage does not help.