Many of New York's finest have a case of the blues, according to a city conducted by the NYPD's rank-and-file union.
An online poll conducted by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association found that about 87 percent of the 6,000 cops surveyed felt that the city is less safe now than on Michael Bloomberg's last day on the job in 2013. The PBA also said that respondents ranked their morale as a 2.49 on a 10-point scale.
"The results of this survey prove what we’ve been hearing time and time again from members over the past two years – the job is more difficult than ever, the dangers are greater, and morale is extremely low," said PBA President Patrick Lynch. "The understaffing, inadequate training, low pay and lack of support has had a chilling effect on police officers across the city."
About 96 percent of participants said the public's perception of the NYPD has worsened recently, with a whopping 70 percent of surveyed cops saying relations with the community have "greatly worsened."
Just about 90 percent of the cops surveyed said they'd leave the NYPD for a job with better pay, even if their new role wasn't in law enforcement. About 86 percent of the respondents said they wouldn't recommend a career in the NYPD to their relatives or children.
"Police officers are risking and sometimes sacrificing their lives to protect their communities from real crime and mayhem, and now they live in constant fear of lawsuits, public complaints and are not supported by either the elected officials or the public," Lynch said. "It is clear from these results that our city's current public safety policies are not working in support of the women and men who actually patrol the streets."
The cops also registered complaints about the state of the city -- with 91 percent saying that graffiti, public urination and other so-called quality-of-life crimes were on the rise. 96 percent of the officers also said they thought suspects were more likely to resist arrest.
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Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said that the results weren't surprising and that the department's own survey in 2014 had similar findings.
Mayor de Blasio said he didn't "take a lot of stock" in the survey and that overall crime is down almost 6 percent since he's been in office. He noted the city has also invested in the department, hiring new cops, buying new bulletproof vests and procuring better technology, including smartphones and chest-mounted cameras.
"They're doing a lot to be proud of and we're very proud of them," de Blasio said.
The mayor has had rocky relations with the PBA and other groups of officers over his tenure. The officer outraged Lynch and other cops when he said he'd talked to his interracial son Dante about how to interact with police after Eric Garner, a black man, died in NYPD custody in 2014.
And Lynch said the mayor had "blood on his hands" after the shooting deaths of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, two cops who were gunned down by a man who posted he was going to "put wings on pigs" before the shootings.
Cops turned their backs on the mayor at funerals for the two fallen officers.
