Hundreds of New York City Police Department officers have been injured after responding to riots and protests this summer.
“The chaos that politicians are encouraging on the streets is putting cops in the hospital,” Patrick Lynch, the head of the Police Benevolent Association, said. “It is not just the nearly 500 cops who have been hit with bricks and bottles or otherwise injured during supposedly ‘peaceful’ protests.
“Hundreds more are being injured because criminals are emboldened to fight cops the moment we step on the scene. They know our hands are tied. Every New Yorker needs to ask their elected officials how cops can protect them when we can barely protect ourselves.”
At least 472 officers across the department have been injured since May 28, with 319 of the officers requiring hospital treatments. So far, there have been 7,528 New York City Police Department line-of-duty injuries since the start of the year amid increasing anti-police sentiment. The injuries are up 47% compared to 2019, when there were 5,133 injuries.
“The average person doesn’t hear about the daily assaults and injuries to police officers,” New York City Police Department Sgt. Joseph Imperatrice, founder of Blue Lives Matter NYC, told the New York Post. “Officers are hurt every single day whether in regards to being assigned to routine patrol or a riot location.”
Imperatrice has witnessed some of the attacks, including when protesters threw half-filled bottles, rocks, bricks, and trash at officers.
“This behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” New York City Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Frances O’Donnell told the New York Post.
In one of the more bloody incidents, New York City Police Department Lt. Richard Mack was attacked by protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge in July and required emergency eye surgery after suffering blows to the head.
In another case, Sgt. William Maher was attacked by a hit-and-run driver in June in the Bronx.
