New York City mayoral candidate Scott Stringer has announced plans to add police officers to fill missing units in the New York City Police Department and place an officer on each subway train as he ramps up his campaign against Mayor Eric Adams. It has set an ambitious and possibly unattainable goal of hiring 3,000 people.
Law enforcement advocacy position detailed by former city auditor In the 12 page safety plan The article details how Stringer plans to address unrest across the Big Apple due to a spike in crime under the current administration, including recent incidents of underground violence.
“The time is now. We need people to feel safe,” Stringer told the Post.
“This is why we need a mayor who has not only vision, but also ability and experience. That is why, as we begin this campaign, we are aware that we are not proposing to take full advantage. “I’m making it clear,” he vowed.
But for those who end up working at City Hall, thousands of officers are less likely to be hired, as the Post previously revealed that applicants to the NYPD's academy have plummeted over the past eight years. It would be a high hurdle to do so.
The police force has lost thousands of officers in recent years, with the current number of officers at just under 33,500, the lowest since the 1990s.
At the same time, the Adams administration had to put more police on the streets to combat gun violence and add more officers to subways to combat random attacks. The majority of those duties require overtime, and overtime hours are increasing rapidly.
And just two days ago, Gov. Cathy Hochul vowed to put more strain on the NYPD, putting officers on every subway train every night — a plan police say is nearly impossible with current staffing levels. are.
Mr Stringer claimed that the forced extra work had lowered morale to historic lows, prompting police to hand over papers en masse.
“Police cannot be forced to push hard like this 24 hours a day,” he said.
But other keys to his hiring appear to have stolen a page from the Adams administration's playbook. The discussion is about increasing pay for police officers and allowing them to work four days a week.
Mr. Adams, the first of four police chiefs, moved to adopt a “modern chart,” with longer work weeks and longer hours, and locked up nearly all police contracts.
The safety plan, which calls for the creation of a deputy mayor to address quality-of-life issues, was released a day after his own polls were leaked, putting him behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The poll, reported exclusively by the Post, showed Mr. Cuomo in second place with 33% support from New Yorkers, followed by Stringer with 13%.
