NYPD Overtime Hits 2nd-Highest Record With $762M Haul, Audit Finds

NEW YORK CITY — NYPD officers racked up the second-highest overtime haul in the city's history last year, according to a new state audit found.

Overtime costs for the NYPD totaled $762 million in fiscal year 2022, a review released this week by State Auditor Thomas DiNapoli found.

The audit — titled "Review of the Financial Plan of the City of New York" — pinned the higher costs on the city's still-ongoing recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and anti-crime efforts.

"Higher overtime was primarily due to large event detail and other activity-driven enforcement as the City continues its return to pre-pandemic conditions, as well as increased crime reduction deployments," the audit states.

City Hall officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mayor Eric Adams has made tackling a surge in crime a centerpiece of his still-young administration, and notably pushed back on progressives calling for massive cuts to the NYPD's $5 billion budget.

Those anti-crime efforts include reinstating controversial plainclothes units, increased subway patrols and the return of "broken windows" enforcement on quality of life offenses.

Major crimes are up roughly 37 percent from the same point last year, although murders have dropped 8 percent, according to NYPD crime statistics.

Overtime for the 2022 fiscal year stood at $281 million more than the previous year, the audit found. The past overtime record was set in fiscal year 2020, when it totaled $837 million, according to the review.

The audit found that city officials have made no changes to address the surging overtime.

"The Mayor has commented on reducing the use of overtime, including through possible strategic redeployments, but in the absence of a concrete plan, OSC projects that overtime will remain near current levels, which could result in unplanned costs of $270 million annually each year beginning in FY 2023," the audit states.