NYPD already losing officers with morale plunging as anti-cop Zohran Mamdani prepares to take reins

An NYPD exodus is already underway, with a surge of officers quitting in the month leading up to anti-cop socialist Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win — and more might go if Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch exits, according to data and department sources.

The NYPD saw a 35% hike in cops of all ranks leaving in October – 245 police officers compared to 181 in the same month last year, according to Police Pension Fund data.

“Morale is down because everyone is concerned about the policies Mamdani wants to put in place,” said Detectives Endowment Association President Scott Munro.

“You have a person who is supposed to be running New York City that does not believe in law enforcement,” said Munro, a police officer for more than three decades. “What’s coming out of everyone’s mouth is, ‘We’re in trouble.’”

Whether more cops leave in the coming months will depend on the “Tisch factor,” a police union source said.

“If she leaves it may result in an uptick,” the source said. “If she stays, maybe not.”

The Police Benevolent Association, which will have to negotiate a new contract with Mamdani, bemoaned that the number of cops leaving could get worse.

“Every single month, we’re losing enough cops to staff an entire precinct,” PBA President Patrick Hendry said.

“It will certainly get worse if our city leaders don’t work with us to fix our unsustainable workload, our expired contract and the constant second-guessing that is driving good cops away from the job.”

So far new hires have helped the force keep up with attrition this year. The department has a uniformed headcount of 33,745, compared to the 33,812 in 2024. The Force’s peak staffing was 40,285 in 2000, according to Independent Budget Office data.

The most notable exit so far since the Mamdani election is that of Deputy Chief John D’Adamo, the head of the Strategic Response Group — the unit that polices protests — which Mamdani has criticized and threatened to decommission.

SRG officers were deployed to the 2024 anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, where hundreds of protesters were arrested by the unit. The left has tried to paint SRG as the problem — not the protesters who spewed hate and encouraged chaos at the Ivy.

D’Adamo quit on Wednesday, the day after Mamdani was elected.

A friend said the chief was simply ready to retire and that the move had nothing to do with the mayor-elect.

If Mamdani disbands the SRG, it will have a domino effect on detectives.

“If they get rid of SRG they’re going to put detectives on protests,” Munro said. “That’s going to take them away from solving crimes and lead to more CCRB complaints.”

Adding to plummeting post-Election Day morale is that Mamdani has also said he would create a new Department of Community Safety (DCS) that would dispatch mental health professionals to 911 calls about people in crisis, rather than cops.

“How’s that going to work when the person pulls out a gun or a knife?” a Bronx cop pondered.

Mamdani also wants to take final authority on officer discipline away from the commissioner and hand it to the ultra-liberal Civilian Complaint Review Board.

“Anyone who has ever sat in on a CCRB hearing, they know it’s a kangaroo court,” a recently retired cop said.

NYPD officers have also been angry with past Mamdani comments calling cops racist and homophobic. Mamdani later apologized.

“How do you work for somebody who considers you racist and anti-queer and wants to defund the police?” the retired cop said. “Things are hard enough already. If you’re eligible to leave, why would you want to stay in that situation?”

A police union consultant, who asked to remain anonymous, said NYPD recruitment will become more difficult under Mamdani.

“Nobody wants to be a New York City cop,” the source said. “It’s not worth the money, the stress, the danger, especially working for a mayor who wants to take the department apart.”