The NYPD’s staffing levels are now at their lowest point in more than three decades, and the number of candidates taking the test to join the force has plunged by more than half in the past eight years, according to data obtained by The New York Post.

Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, attributes the decline in recruitment to new legislation that he says hampers police effectiveness and morale. “A lot of my students don’t want to be cops anymore,” Giacalone said. “The whole class used to want to be cops.”

In 2020, the City Council passed six bills that critics claim have exacerbated the recruitment crisis. Among them is the chokehold ban, which prohibits officers from applying pressure to a person’s neck or diaphragm, and the “How Many Stops Act,” which requires officers to document every encounter.

State bail reform laws have further dissuaded potential recruits. Officers report frustration at seeing repeat offenders — some of whom are undocumented migrants the NYPD cannot turn over to ICE — commit crimes and be quickly released back onto the streets.

In 2017, 18,000 prospective members of New York’s Finest took the test. By 2023, that number had dropped to just 8,000 — a 55% decline, based on figures from the Police Benevolent Association (PBA), the city’s largest police union.

“The biggest problem is that cops are telling their friends and family not to bother with this job, even as a stepping stone, because it’s not worth it,” a Brooklyn officer with over a dozen years on the job told The Post. “You’ll be worked to the bone, attacked by perps and politicians, and hammered with nonsense complaints and ticky-tack discipline.”

One longtime officer shared that his son plans to join the Suffolk County Police Department rather than follow in his father’s footsteps in NYC, despite a lower starting salary. “You’re not forced to work every New Year’s Eve and Fourth of July,” the officer said. “You don’t have to worry about getting stabbed, shot, and then sued all the time.”

A recently retired Brooklyn cop echoed these sentiments. “I tell [young people] if you can find another agency that’s willing to take you, I would go,” the 45-year-old said. “I would run for the hills if you can.”

Mayor Eric Adams pledged in November to hire 1,600 new officers in 2025. However, the city is facing significant challenges in finding viable candidates, according to a PBA spokesperson. Even if the department manages to enroll 800 recruits in its police academy by the January 29 target date, it will struggle to find another 800 for a second class in April.

Historically, only about one out of every eight candidates who take the test pass and meet all the required mental and physical benchmarks. To fill 1,600 academy slots, the department would need a pool of nearly 13,000 candidates, which it currently lacks, adds The Post.