There is no greater honor than to become an NYPD Detective. The men and women, who achieve the rank, are models for professionalism, heroism, and integrity. They are the experts, the subjects of generations of films and television shows.
The famed gold shield is a badge of honor and trust on the streets of a city where sometimes hope is lost. It is a sign of selfless service that takes terrorists from around the world into custody, captures violent fugitives, speaks for those who have no voice and whose memories and lives deserve justice.
Detectives benefit every NYPD specialty investigative unit, they fly helicopters, serve in the Emergency Service Unit, and more. We do it all.
The Job was always a family business, passed down to sons and daughters who grew up admiring the sense of service.
All that is true. I know. I am a proud NYPD Detective and father of two sons who wear the gold shield. I have seen unimaginable crises and the unmatched bravery and indescribable sacrifice of fellow Detectives.
Now, those values, this job, and the safety of the people and the city we swore to protect are about to experience a different kind of crisis.
In the early 2000s, we had 7,200 Detectives, and every one of them was essential. Yet, as you read this, the rank has dwindled to below 5,000.
And why should they stay?
Our duties at home have vastly increased. New evidence collection techniques, due to Albany’s ill-advised discovery laws, means untenable amounts of work and deadlines. Bail laws rammed through in past New York State budgets are the reason dangerous recidivists are running through our neighborhoods and subways. It’s also the reason Detectives can work for weeks to arrest a criminal, only to see them released to re-victimize before all the tedious paperwork is finished.
A hostile New York City Council passes laws fostering anti-cop attitudes. Unqualified Civilian Complaint Review Board investigators are consistently wrong, but unproven allegations remain on our publicly obtainable records, affecting future employment.
A single Detective can be investigating 500 different cases at a time. Then they are forced to work overtime in the subway system and events across the city—because there is nobody else to do it—while the victims in those cases wait for justice.
To add to the stress, the NYPD disciplines Detectives at events and in the subways for minor imperfections in their uniform even when they are going on hour 15 of their tour, an unfair practice our union is addressing with department leadership.
And when it comes to being promoted to First or Second Grade Detective, our hardworking men and women are rightly disheartened by the haphazardness of the process.
Being a New York City police officer, entering the police academy with hopes of wearing a gold shield was the dream of many.
Future police officers with eyes on careers leading to the NYPD Detective Bureau are becoming scarce. The first step is a civil service test. Fewer are interested.
The situation could not be more serious. Nearly 500 detectives have retired since the beginning of this year compared to 450 in all of 2024 — and more than 1,600 more will be eligible to retire in 2025. The math is scary, and so too will be the consequences.
There are solutions. An easy answer is to hire more cops and promote into the detective ranks. Let’s not forget that becoming a Detective requires years of training and experience beyond the academy.
The correct answer is retention by repairing our broken police pension system and correcting it so that detectives are incentivized to remain working beyond today’s 20-year retirement. Much else needs to change, too.
This union has proposed bills in Albany to enhance the pension for those who stay on the Job longer than 20 years.
Without immediate actions, the providers of justice in our toughest and neediest neighborhoods will be gone.
Many of us do not want to leave. We want to keep putting the bad guys in jail.
Tell the people who run this City and this State that we need more detectives. Fix the pension system. Hire more cops. Fixed the failed criminal justice laws in Albany. Give us the respect we earn for the job we do.
Maybe the political leaders of this city and state will listen to you, the citizens of this great city, who we are honored to serve. We’ve been telling them the facts. Some just aren’t hearing us.
Scott Munro is the president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association. He is a First Grade Detective and 33-year veteran of the NYPD.
