NEW YORK, NY – Thomas Gambardella recently submitted his paperwork to officially retire from the New York Police Department, where he had worked for the last 20 years.
The 41-year-old Staten Island resident was a decorated officer, according to the New York Post.
When his retirement became official, he posted a comment on Facebook.
“I never posted ‘work pictures’ or ‘work’ posts…a chunk of you all probably didn’t even know I worked in the NYPD…but I’m officially retired today. From this sorry excuse for a s— job…Thank God, I’m free at last! Not my problem anymore…I loved everyone I worked with, and ‘some’ of the people I worked for…but this job is no-ones [sic] friend…Time to live free! I’ll see you all out there!”
The post was accompanied by multiple photos, one of which included the divorced father of three, wearing a Let’s Go Brandon shirt, giving the middle finger to a memorial at the NYPD headquarters.
‘Worst f**king job in the world’: NYPD veteran Thomas Gambardella BLASTS department as he resigns – MEAWW https://t.co/o13rMnriSj
— NYPD bot (@NYPDbot) July 3, 2022
The 2006 NYPD Officer of the Year spoke with the Post, telling them he loved the job when he started, but the “gig turned to shit” due to the city’s soft-on-crime policies.
The now retired detective, whose Facebook profile states that he is a “Patriot, Conservative, Christian” and that he retired from the WORST “JOB” in the World, did not hold back in sharing his thoughts.
“I was a true believer,” Gambardella said.
“I wasn’t a bag of shit. I worked some intricate details. I gave a lot of my blood, sweat and tears. But no more. It’s the worst f—ing job in the world. They own you. They’re not your friends. All that talk about the ‘big blue family.’ They don’t care. If I die tomorrow, they wouldn’t give a shit. If I needed something, it ain’t gonna happen. I’m better off just saying a prayer.”
He pointed to increased hostility towards police, calls to defund, limitations on what cops could and couldn’t do, accompanied with the liberal policy making as the reasons for his attitude change.
“Crime is soaring and cops are leaving in droves,” he told the Post. “Anybody can see that. All this liberalism is obviously a failure. But this is what they wanted. It’s a stupid experiment and it’s the people who will pay in the end.”
(Continue reading for more on the fact that officers are leaving the NYPD in record numbers)
While some have applauded his statements, others have taken issue with them as well as the photo he posted.
“‘The majority of officers who retire are proud of their careers and their service with the NYPD,’ a high-ranking police source told The Post when asked about Gambardella.”
The statue he is flipping off depicts a police officer watching over the child of a fallen officer.
Some officers purchase miniature versions of the monument and engrave the fallen officer’s shield number on it and provide it to their family.
While some have taken exception to the way he left the job, Gambardella said he hasn’t received much backlash.
“I have a disease,” Gambardella said. “It’s called diarrhea of the mouth. People who know me know I’m like this. I don’t cower down.”
Exodus of Biblical proportions? NYPD has seen more than 1,500 cops retire or quit in the first 5 months of 2022
NEW YORK, NY – Nearly 1,600 cops have retired or resigned from the NYPD in the first 5 months of 2022. That represents an increase of 38% over 2021 and 46% more the 2020 numbers.
Let’s pause for a minute to grasp what that means.
1,596 officers are no longer in their roles with the NYPD, so far in 2022. Based on the monthly average of 319.2, the NYPD is poised to lose just over 11% of their department’s force this year, or 3,830 officers.
That number is staggering when you consider that would outdistance the previous two years combined by more than 1,500.
In 2019, there were 36,900 officers employed by the NYPD.
Today, there are 34,687.
NYPD continues to hemorrhage Cops from retirements and resignation transfers to other departments, rampant crime and the Stooges send out unconstitutional Termination letters – @JoeBorelliNYC @MikeWReilly @davidwebbshow @JGilliam_SEAL pic.twitter.com/zEvRSUpupK
— E-Man-Detective4LifeAgain (@RicoRic30563203) June 14, 2022
So, what is driving this mass exodus?
The New York Post discussed the opinion of one officer who left the NYPD to work at a different Long Island department.
“Anti-cop hostility, bail reform, and rising crime have fed into frustration among the NYPD rank and file,” the officer said of his decision to leave after 6 1/2 years with NYPD.
The Post spoke with a cop whose beat is in Queens who was identified only as Joe.
“The city is out of control, especially since bail reform,” he said of his patrol job, which he claims has continued to worsen over time.
The mindset of Joe and others is now “get out while you still can.”
“The last few years so many people had been leaving and manpower was so low that you’d go to work, and you’d answer 25 to 30 jobs a day and you’re burnt out by the end of the day,” he said, adding, “there was no time for law enforcement,” as it was “radio run, radio run, radio run all day long.”
Joe pointed to criminal and bail reform as a major issue. When he does make an arrest, they are typically back on the street and coming back to collect their property from the precinct the same day.
“Residents would ask, ‘Why does this keep happening?’ and I would have to explain to them, ‘This guy is going to be locked up tonight, but tomorrow night he’s going to come down your block again, he’s going to be on the same corner, you’re going to see him in the same stores. I wish there was more we could do. But we can’t,’” Joe said.
Joe said he is aware that he will get a fraction of the pension at his new department than he would have received with NYPD, but it was worth making the move.
“Cops who made the move before me said, ‘It’s a decision you have to make. You can’t turn this job down. The quality of life is better, they treat you more like a human being than a number,’” Joe said. “My friends were all going to the Port Authority, Nassau, Suffolk, MTA.”
Joe also told the post that he checks in daily with friends at his old Queens precinct.
“When I ask, ‘How are things?’ the response is, ‘Horrible. Worse than when you left,’ and it’s only been six months,” he added.
Joe isn’t alone in voicing his frustration.
Police Benevolent Association Patrolman Union President, Patrick Lynch, chimed in.
“The NYPD is sliding deeper into a staffing crisis that will ultimately hurt public safety. Low pay, inferior benefits and constant abuse from the City Council and other anti-cop demagogues has pushed attrition to record highs.
We need more cops working more hours to turn the tide of violence, but there is only so much overtime they can squeeze out of the cops who remain.”
The department was hoping to bring on 1,009 from the class that was sworn in back in December of 2021. They fell short of that goal, hiring only 675.
So, how do they get the attrition to stop?
(For the record, attrition is the best word to describe this situation. Attrition is defined as: the process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure, which is what the Defund movement has been.)
Catch me at 9:10 AM or so on @FoxNews via Zoom to discuss the staggering number of retirements and resignations in the #NYPD #NYC from the @nypost article.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor, Joseph Giacalone, addressed that very question.
“It will take 20 years to fix this mess,” the former NYPD sergeant said. “The city is bleeding blue and only the cop haters will be celebrating. There’s no way to stop it. Activists, abolitionists, and their pandering politicians have done so much damage to the profession, that it will take a generation to fix, if at all.”
Where does the new Mayor of New York stand on the situation, given his career as an officer and Captain with the NYPD?
It doesn’t seem to bother him.
GoodDay New York asked Adams that very question.
“Mr. Mayor, are you concerned there are reports that over 500 cops are resigning and over a thousand are retiring? Does that concern you?”
His response was only four words long.
Mayor Eric Adams Not Concerned About Record Levels of NYPD Retirements https://t.co/CPNon9A3pR
— LET Writers (@LetWriters) June 17, 2022
“No, it does not,” was his answer.
His lack of concern does not bode well for fixing the problem.
Four white NYPD chiefs say they were forced out of their jobs by mayor to fit his “diversity agenda”
NEW YORK – Former NYC mayor Bill de Blasio forced four White NYPD top officials out of their jobs in order to push his diversity agenda, say the officers.
De Blasio forced out four White NYPD chiefs as part of diversity push, court docs allege https://t.co/JFfbxIdWjZ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 9, 2022
An amended complaint revealed e-mails from 2017 between de Blasio and former Commissioner James O’Neill that expressed concern over the retirement of Carlos Gomez, the Chief of the Department, who is of Cuban descent.
They stated that it would “only exacerbate the demographic tensions” in the city.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of former Chief of Community Affairs Joanne Jaffe in the Southern District of New York revealed e-mails that have been cited as a portion of the ongoing lawsuit.
They provide details on how de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, allegedly influenced NYPD personnel matters.
The complaint states that the e-mails show “a cynical public relations move that put de Blasio’s political interests ahead of the law and the well-being of dedicated NYPD civil servants.”
Warren Wilhelmina Jr, who also goes by “Bill De Blasio” forced out four White NYPD chiefs as part of diversity push, court docs allege https://t.co/oFJnEJ8SkC
— Jon Najarian (@jonnajarian) May 10, 2022
According to Fox News, Jaffe, Thomas Purtell, Chief of Citywide Operations, Diane Pizzuti, Chief of Personnel, and Joseph Fox, Chief of Transit, were forced into retirement in January 2018. This was all due to de Blasio’s push to place people of color into NYPD higher positions.
The complaint states that de Blasio and his wife led interviews to find a replacement for Jaffe’s position. This all took place before Jaffe was aware of being forced out of her job.
E-mails reveal de Blasio wanted the press release announcement for Nilda Hofmann announcing her job as Chief of Campus Security using her maiden name of Irizarry. This was to place emphasis on her Latino background. Yet, Hofmann had not used that name for over two decades.
Deputy Chief Rodney Harrison was pushed to take over for Gomez because he is Black e-mails reveal. Terence Monahan was named as the new Chief of the Department, and Harrison took Monaha’s previous position.
Fox remarked that,
“What they did was unethical.
The mayor was increasingly tinkering in personnel decisions later in his eight years.
It got so you could not promote deputy inspectors without checking with City Hall.
But there was no explanation, no footnote, no press release that said why we needed to do this.”
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