After hiring personnel from the blue state of Florida, it seems that police officers have moved on to greener pastures. It comes amid the widespread anti-police sentiment fomented in some places such as New York City or Minneapolis by the hard Left.
The New York Post reported:
Lakeland — a community of 108,000 people 35 miles east of Tampa — mounted a social media campaign targeting NYC cops earlier this year, and in April dispatched a delegation to recruit in Times Square.
Fourteen former Finest moved to Lakeland in the past year — 12 of them wooed over the past two months thanks to the recruiting trip.
Matthew Spoto, a former NYPD police officer, told reporters in September that the respect they receive in the Sunshine State “was an eye opener,” and explained that in New York, “it was almost like I was ashamed to be a law enforcement officer.”
The following is an extract from the Lakeland Ledger The minimum salary for police officers is $53,000. NYPD officers begin with $42,500 per year. Florida doesn’t have income taxes on either the state or city level.
While there is not yet data showing how many law enforcement officers to moving to Florida, “anecdotal evidence” seems to suggest that they are leaving blue states, according to a spokesperson for the National Association of Police Organizations.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, spoke at New York Post that “[m]any New York City cops are weighing our sub-standard salary against the ever-increasing challenges, scrutiny and abuse, and they’re voting with their feet.”
“They don’t even need to go all the way to Florida. There are many better-paying police departments in and around NYC, and they’re hiring,” he said. “We certainly don’t blame anybody for leaving. But New York City needs to wake up.”
The Post noted that:
Mayor de Blasio’s executive-order vaccine mandate has been the latest trigger for some cops amid what they describe as a hostile legal, social and political environment. Florida was one of the first to respond with a red carpet.
Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last Monday said: “No cop, no firefighter, no nurse, nobody should be losing their jobs because of these jabs.”
Governor Scott gave Florida’s first responders a $1,000 bonus due to pandemics in May. The governor also promised a $5,000 bonus to officers from out of state who are working in Florida.
Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ press secretary, told RedState:
“While some parts of the country caved to the radical Left, defunded police, and saw huge increases in crime over the past year, Governor DeSantis has always ensured that law and order prevail in Florida. Law enforcement personnel are always going to feel appreciated here, and under state law — signed by Governor DeSantis this year — local governments are not able to ‘defund the police’ in their communities.”
She also affirmed that “[t]he Governor’s initiatives include $5,000 bonuses for new recruits and law enforcement officers who come from out of state to work in Florida. This will be beneficial for our state, because public safety is the cornerstone of a thriving society.”
Pushaw responded that she knew of any officers who were from other states planning to move to Florida. I asked her:
“Our office receives emails from officers and their family members often, expressing interest in relocating to Florida, so I’m sure there are — but the local police departments handle recruitment themselves, the Governor’s office does not have all the info from PDs, so the PDs themselves are better to ask about details.
My knowledge is that Lakeland PD held 13 vacancies in the spring of this year. They filled them with NYPD officers. They had a recruitment table in Times Square for several days.”
The DeSantis administration seems to be doing something right with its treatment of first responders. The move would not surprise law enforcement officers as well as other first responders. The Democratic state and local governments have taken these individuals under the bus and are now backing them up.
It turns out that encouraging hostility towards officers by pretending they are all Derek Chauvin isn’t the way to retain law enforcement personnel. There is also the issue of imposing draconian mandates on vaccines. Even before this change, many cities saw record levels of police officer retirements. And, despite the lies being spread by the left, it has greatly contributed to rising crime rates across the country.
One would think that by now, Democrats would reconsider their anti-police stances – it’s certainly hurting them in the polls. For these folks, virtue signaling over police misconduct is far more important that actually protecting residents. Come 2022, this will be one of a series of nails in the Democrats’ coffin.
About Post Author
