Attacks against NYPD on pace to reach record-breaking levels, fueled by anti-cop rhetoric and woke policies: Report

Assaults against New York Police Department officers have reached unprecedented levels, fueled by anti-cop rhetoric and woke policies that have emboldened criminals, experts told the New York Post Sunday.

Within the first nine months of 2023, 4,077 police officers in New York City were attacked and injured by suspects, the news outlet reported. While stats for the fourth quarter of 2023 have not yet been released, the NYPD data shows that assaults against officers are on pace to reach a record-breaking 5,436. The number of cops injured by suspects has been on an upward trend for years. In 2022, 4,724 officers were hurt, a 20% increase from 2021.

Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Hendry told the Post that the trend has become “a full-blown epidemic.”

“Well over 5,000 cops were attacked and injured last year,” Hendry stated. “The vicious attacks on police officers we’ve seen recently didn’t come out of nowhere. This dangerous environment has been building for years. ... It’s not going to get better until those who attack police officers are consistently prosecuted and kept in jail. And that won’t happen unless New Yorkers keep speaking up to demand an end to the chaos.”

The number of substantial or serious injuries suffered by cops has also trended upward over the last few years, according to the NYPD’s "Threat, Resistance and Injury" data.

In the first nine months of 2023, 261 cops suffered substantial or serious injury as a result of being attacked by a suspect, which is on pace to reach 348, a 10% increase from the previous year.

A 28-year-old female officer from the Upper West Side told the Post, “Everyone wants to fight.” The cop said she was assaulted while attempting to handcuff a shoplifting suspect. According to the female officer, who sprained her hand in the incident, the suspect was released from jail the same day.

A 40-year-old cop noted, “There’s no respect for the law.”

“Now, you have to be careful what you do. They’ll come after you,” the officer added, referring to anti-cop sentiments that have prompted civilian complaints and discipline.

NYPD Lt. John Macari stated that the department’s officers have been “emasculated.”

“Now we have cops on the street who are afraid to act. ... They’re more afraid of the professional and legal ramifications of taking police action than the fear for their own lives,” he stated.

Sergeants Benevolent Association president Vincent Vallelong blamed the uptick in violence against officers on criminals becoming more emboldened by the city’s soft-on-crime policies that fail to impose consequences.

Democrat-backed policies, including cashless bail and the Raise the Age law, have made it more difficult for NYPD officers to enforce the law and keep the community safe.

In December, the city council pushed through the “How Many Stops Act,” which will force cops to record nearly every encounter with the public. New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams attempted to veto the bill last month, claiming it would decrease police response times and add millions of dollars in overtime. However, the city council voted to reject the mayor’s veto.

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