Over 2,500 NYPD cops have handed in their badges so far this year, forcing those who remain on the job to work 'inhumane amounts of overtime'

More than 2,500 NYPD cops have turned in their badges so far this year as the force continues to struggle with a mass exodus.

The resignations are leaving remaining staff with crippling workloads as they are forced to pick up 'inhumane amounts of overtime', according to union leaders.

So far 2,516 NYPD cops have left, the fourth highest number rate in the past decade, the New York Post reports.

Meanwhile the number of cops walking before they reach the 20 years required to receive their full pensions has soared by 104 percent, from 509 in 2020 to 1,040. 

'The workload is a leading factor driving people away from the job,' Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry told the outlet.

'If the NYPD is going to survive these staffing reductions, it cannot just keep squeezing cops for more hours.' 

He added that the reductions in staff were leading to cops picking up, 'inhuman amounts of forced overtime'. 

The union is calling on the NYPD to bring in longer working hours spread across fewer working days. 

It comes amid spiraling crime rates in the Big Apple under Mayor Eric Adams, whose decision to slash police funding and axe the next five Police Academy classes threatens to exacerbate the situation.

The sweeping cuts will see police numbers dwindle to their lowest since the 90s, with just 29,000 cops left by the end of the financial year in 2025. 

Beleaguered Mayor Adams acknowledgement their is a 'law enforcement crisis' and blamed the migrant crisis for the dramatic cutbacks.

DailyMail.com previously reported how the force was grappling with a record number of resignations earlier this year, with around ten percent of this year's total occurring in January and February.

Two days in February saw a worrying 21 resignations according to the New York Post, which reported that more than a dozen staff walked out on February 20 and 21.

Among those to quit this year was NYPD Keechant Sewell, whose shock resignation after just 18 months blindsided City Hall.

The first female commissioner reportedly walked after clashing with Mayor Adams over a police disciplinary matter, according to a report.

She cited 'tragedy and challenges' as the reason behind her swift exit.

And it appears the pressure if being felt at every level, particularly among rank and file officers with many reporting they only plan to see out the job until they hit 20 years' service which would entitled them to their full pension.

One such police officer, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Post that several of his police academy class mates 'all have the same notion' as they have been working 13 to 14 hour days in the wake of frequent protests across the city.

 'I think maybe 95 percent of us are planning on leaving,' he said of his 2004 class of 2,400.

Meanwhile a 28-year-old cop from Queens described the situation as 'unbearable' and said he plans to leave as soon as possible.

An anti-cop sentiment and the defund the police movement which has been brewing since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Derek Chauvin has also been blamed for the resignations.

Attacks against police are up 25 percent this year, with 1,731 assaults reported.

Among them was an NYPD cop who was brutally beaten after he asked two men to stop smoking at a Bronx subway station.

Kareem McClary, 23, and Izayiah Jessamy, 20, were freed without bail by a judge on November 14 as neither had a criminal record.

Hendry previously blamed anti-police activists and a lack of consequences for the attacks for the dramatic spike.