I would too!

By Social Links for Tina Moore and
Social Links for Dean Balsamini

New York’s Finest continue to bolt from the job at an alarming rate, according to new data obtained by The Post — and some cops worry the exodus will only get worse because the city plans to cancel the next five Police Academy classes, shrinking the nation’s largest police force to the smallest its been in decades.

A total of 2,516 NYPD cops have left so far this year, the fourth highest number in the past decade and 43% more than the 1,750 who hightailed it in 2018, before the pandemic and crime spikes hit the city, NYPD pension data show.

The number of cops quitting before they reach the 20 years required to receive their full pensions also skyrocketed from 509 in 2020 to 1,040 so far this year — an alarming 104% increase, the data show.

The years of departures and lack of replacements are now taking a toll, forcing the cops who remain on the job to work “inhumane amounts of forced overtime,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said.

The number of cops quitting before they reach the 20 years required to receive their full pensions more than doubled from 509 in 2020 to 1,040 so far this yearStephen Yang

“The workload is a leading factor driving people away from the job,” the union leader said. “If the NYPD is going to survive these staffing reductions, it cannot just keep squeezing cops for more hours. The stress of increased crime is also a factor.”

The union has proposed a flexible schedule that would have cops work longer hours on fewer days.

One police officer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told The Post he plans to leave the job this summer when he hits 20 years.

“I keep in contact with the guys that I was in the police academy with and we all have the same notion,” he said of his 2004 class of 2,400. “I think maybe 95% of us are planning on leaving.”

Incredibly, 21 cops walked away from the job earlier this year in just a two-day period — Feb. 20 and 21 — to join the MTA, police sources said. Even former NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell stepped down in June amid a steady stream of New York’s Finest beating her to the punch.