NEW YORK, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The recent surge in resignations and retirements from the police department highlights the fact that police officers and other uniformed city employees can collect their pensions for many more years than other city workers, said an official report issued this week.
"More than 2,400 through the first week of October this year compared with an average of 1,800 annually over the past decade or about 2,000 in all of 2019" of the police force did so, announced New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) on the page of "New York City by the Numbers" of its website.
Two-thirds of retired police officers who began receiving full pension benefits since 2010 were under age 50 at the time, with almost 30 percent under age 45, said the report.
Meanwhile, a total of 929 former uniformed firefighters began receiving pension benefits from January 2010 through August 2020, with 20 percent under age 50 when benefit payments started, it added.
The report didn't give the reason behind the tide of retirement and resignation at younger age than expected. Local media reported that the city government's plan to shift 1 billion U.S. dollars from the police department's 5.9 billion dollars budget for 2021 has led to low morale among the force.
While most New York City employees cannot receive their pensions until they turn 62, police officers and firefighters can retire at any age after they have completed the required number of years of uniformed service.
In New York City, most police officers and firefighters leave city service after they qualify for their full pension and health insurance benefits: 20 years of service for those hired before July 2009, and 22 years for those hired since then.
This is different from many other major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Diego, where police and firefighters must be at least 50 to receive their pensions. Enditem
