Some of New York’s finest transferred departments to a small Florida city in hopes of better treatment from the community.
Fourteen New York City Police Department officers moved to the department of Lakeland, Florida, in the past year. Twelve of them reportedly migrated in the past two months.
Former NYPD officer Matthew Spoto previously called the move an “eye-opener.”
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“I used to lie about what I did,” Spoto said in September. “I used to tell people I was a bartender. I was ashamed to be a law enforcement officer.”
Lakeland’s population was about 108,000 residents in 2019. The community’s police department had initiated a recruiting campaign in New York to find officers to hire.
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Its recruiting trip in April focused on poaching officers in Times Square.
The starting salary for an NYPD officer is about $42,500 annually, according to the New York Post, citing city data.
The minimum salary for officers in Lakeland is reportedly $53,000, the city’s manager said.
