A detectives union has filed suit against the city seeking to block the termination of unvaccinated detectives early next month saying it could exacerbate the current rise in crime.
The Detectives’ Endowment Association filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court Tuesday seeking to block the city from firing on June 3 over 30 NYPD detectives who still haven’t gotten the COVID-19 jab.
The city set an Oct. 29 deadline for city employees to get vaccinated. Over 13,000 city workers have filed for exemptions including over 6,000 applications by cops, Gothamist reported.
By firing over 30 detectives, and a portion of the 600 detectives who still have religious and medical exemption requests pending, this “will eliminate approximately 10% of the rank dedicated and trained to combat and investigate the crimes that befall the citizenry of the city on almost a daily basis,” the suit alleges.
The suit claims that the June 3 round of firings follows on the heels of 38 unvaccinated detectives receiving termination letters last week.
“When the city needs detectives the most, in order to deal with and investigate the significant rise in crime, respondents, through the misguided justification of the mandate, seek to eliminate the best crime fighting force in the city,” the suit charges.
The suit says that the force can’t afford to lose detectives because they need their expertise and experience to train incoming detectives. And the force was already expecting a wave of retirements by older detectives this summer.
“This ‘brain drain’ … will exacerbate the existing rise in crime because the department cannot simply plug in a new ‘number’ to fill this void,” the court papers allege.
“The need for a well-staffed, properly-trained, and seasoned police force is imperative during these troubling times,” the filing says.
The suit calls the terminations “arbitrary and capricious” saying the move “lacks a sound basis in fact.”
The city has already lifted the mask mandate for children, gyms and indoor dining and has lifted the vaccine mandate for athletes and performers. So the firings “run contrary” to the urgency “claimed by respondents for the enforcement of the mandate against DEA members,” the filing claims.
City Hall Spokesman Johan Allon told The Post: “Numerous courts have already held that the city’s vaccine mandate for public employees is lawful and enforceable.
“All city workers – unless they have been granted a reasonable accommodation – have had to comply with this mandate as a condition of their employment. We will defend this in court.”
As of May 10, 91% of the NYPD was vaccinated, according to a department spokesperson who declined to answer specific questions on how many detectives remain unvaccinated and how many have been fired.
In February, the city fired 1,400 unvaccinated municipal workers including 36 from the NYPD.
The NYPD had put on pause the firing of nearly 5,000 employees earlier this month in anticipation of the spike in crime that comes in the summer months.
Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy and Nolan Hicks
