New York’s Finest Flee

NYPD Officers Flee New York for Better Opportunities in Florida Police Department

Police officers are leaving the New York City Police Department and joining the police department in Lakeland, Florida, as officers say they are better received in the Florida community.

The New York Post reported that 14 officers have fled the NYPD for the Lakeland Police Department in the past year.

Lakeland embarked on a campaign months ago to recruit NYPD officers through social media. In April, the department sent a group to recruit officers in Times Square, the Post reports.

One officer who made the transition to the Lakeland Police Department spoke of his experience with recruiters in Times Square in a September press conference with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

Former NYPD officer Matthew Spoto recalled his conversation with a background investigator at the Times Square meeting and called it “an eye-opener.”

“He said that you could park your police vehicles in front of your house, and to me, I thought that was mind-blowing,” Spoto said, alluding to the difference in community perception of police in both cities. “I used to have to lie about what I used to do. I used to have to tell people I was like a bartender because it was almost like I was ashamed to be a law enforcement officer.”

“I think everybody, regardless of the career that you chose – you want to be appreciated in what you do. It doesn’t matter what job you do,” Spoto went on to say.

The former NYPD officer also stated, “I wanted to all these things to help people” as an NYPD officer, but “the tools and the laws that were set in front of me did not allow me to do so.”

https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2021/11/14/nypd-officers-flee-new-york-better-opportunities-florida-police-department/