NYC Mayor to Add 1,200 New Police Recruits

NEW YORK – New York Mayor Eric Adams announced the city will add two additional New York City Police Department (NYPD) police academy classes, in July and October, to the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Executive Budget. Each of the two new classes will add 600 new recruits to the rolls this calendar year, bringing the total number of new NYPD recruits in 2024 to 2,400. The 1,200 new officers in the July and October police classes will hit New York City streets in January 2025 and April 2025, respectively. With the announcement, Mayor Adams is taking another step to put New York City on the path to increase the number of uniformed officers in the NYPD to 35,000 in the coming years.

The question is whether the city can find enough recruits to fill two additional police classes. The starting salary for NYPD officers is just $58,580, not including overtime or night differential.

Mayor Adams has made public safety his top priority and because of the NYPD’s efforts overall crime is down more than 3 percent in 2024, year to date, while shootings and homicides are both down by double digits — 20 percent and 23.5 percent, respectively. Shootings and homicides saw double-digit decreases in 2023 and 2024 as well, being down 25 percent and 12 percent, respectively, last year, and being down 17 percent and 11 percent, respectively, in 2022.

“I always say that public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity. By driving down crime, we have saved lives and laid the foundation for economic recovery, but we want to keep that going and we won’t do anything to risk all our progress,” said Mayor Adams. “Today, I am proud to announce that, thanks to our strong fiscal management that has stabilized the city budget and our fiscal outlook, we are funding two additional police classes this year in the upcoming Executive Budget. These 1,200 additional officers will be hitting the streets to keep us safe in the coming year, while we continue to drive down shootings and homicides citywide at a near historic pace. This puts New York City on the path to have a total of 35,000 uniformed officers in the coming years. Our administration is committed to making sure New York City continues to be the safest big city in America while making the right fiscal decisions for our city.”

“This funding for the NYPD’s July and October 2024 recruit classes is a major win for public safety in New York City,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban. “While the NYPD will always be at the forefront of new technology and precision policing, the police officer is the ultimate crime reduction tool. I am grateful to Mayor Adams for his generous and continual support of New York’s Finest.”