NYPD DO'S AND DONUTS
Unit gets strict on etiquette as cops quit
The NYPD is cracking down on its already-thinning, overworked ranks by rooting out cops who grow their beads too long, drink coffee on the job and don’t empty their garbage cans quickly enough, The Post has learned.
The burgeoning effort to police the police — ordered up by Commissioner Keechant Sewell — is being led by the Standards and Assessment section of the 2-monthold Professional Standards Bureau, according to the NYPD.
“If somebody is noncompliant with the beard procedure — they’ll look into that,” said public information Chief Kevin Maloney. “It’s really anything the cops are supposed to adhere to . . . their job is to make sure they’re doing that. It’s just enforcing the rules.”
In addition to making sure cops don’t grow their beards past the departmental limit of one-quarter of an inch, the section is tasked with investigating improprieties keeping inaccurate memo books, tinting the windows too dark on personal cars or failing to comb one’s hair properly.
The unit, led by Inspector Robert O’Hare and reporting to Sewell’s office, will also make sure cops wear their body cameras on the right piece of clothing, update roll call promptly, show up on time and don’t leave their posts early, according to the memo.
Offending officers who cross the sergeants and lieutenants assigned as monitors will be hit with command disciplines, or internal write-ups that could lead to lost vacation time, usually five to 10 days depending on the infraction.
And that’s been happening at precinct rolls calls throughout the city this month, although the NYPD declined to say how many command disciplines it had issued thus far.
One example would be a cop showing up for a detail without their hat, the department said.
“Everybody should look professional,” Maloney told The Post.
Cops said the new initiative, which was made official Jan. 17, has left them stuck between an eye roll and an outright rebellion.
“It’s pathetic, everybody’s talking about it,” said one Brooklyn cop of 20 years. “Guys are saying they’ve never seen morale so bad. The attitude is [the bosses] want to get you for something . . . Why would you go above and beyond to do anything at this point?”
According to another officer, some, with a bit of dark humor, have dubbed the unit the “suicide squad” because it is “the type of s--t” that pushes cops to the brink.
The department has remained firm: “Follow the rules, you have no problems,” a police spokesman said. “It seems simple enough . . . We can’t have a double standard.”
The decision to drop the hammer on the rank-and-file comes as the NYPD is facing a historic staffing shortage as cops turn in their badges at an alarming rate.
The NYPD roster of 33,822 uniformed officers is already 1,208 below the budgeted headcount, The Post reported last week. It’s 2,467 cops short of the 36,289 who were working at the start of 2020.
During January and February of this year, 239 officers resigned, a 36% spike from the 176 who left during the same span in 2022.
The standards crackdown is unlikely to help stem the tide.
Precinct supervisors were sent a memo by higher ups in recent weeks alerting them of the new unit, according to police sources.
It warned that cops working Friday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade should be particularly fastidious because O’Hare’s teams will be watching to see if they’re “properly uniformed, with presentable shoes, clothing and properly groomed including hair and facial hair.”
They’ll also be checking waste bins “to ensure there isn’t garbage overflowing and littered about on all levels of the command.”
“They’re just adding on the stress, so people are saying ‘f--k it’ and leaving,” one source said.