Assaults on NYC cops have surged a shocking 63% over the past six years — and police officers and experts warned this week that the trend will continue because of a criminal-friendly justice system that fails to “deliver any consequences.”
There have been 970 assaults on uniformed police officers in the city so far this year, up from the 595 officers attacked at the same point in pre-pandemic 2019, NYPD data show.
The number of assaulted cops, which includes all city law enforcement officers, is up 57% so far this year compared to the same span three years ago, and climbed 4% compared to the same period last year, the data show.
The stats emerged amid a spate of recent attacks on cops, including:
- A maniac chomped off the tip of a sergeant’s finger, and then went on to sucker-slap an innocent 9-year-old girl in Queens on May 10. Feliz Enrique, 31, walked up to the youngster as she was playing on a Glendale street, asked her name, then smacked her in the face without any warning, Queens DA Melissa Katz alleged.
- A Times Square officer who was punched in the jaw at 2:40 a.m. on Tuesday while trying to lead the man safely out of traffic. After Aaron Domsky, 21, a Californian, allegedly attacked the officer, he also slapped a 19-year-old woman in the face and drove his elbow into the back of a 35-year-old woman’s head, according to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court.
- NYPD housing officer Chowdhury Nafees, 27, was brutally beaten and robbed by two goons while headed home from work last Saturday in the Bronx, leaving him semi-conscious and with severe facial injuries, including a broken orbital socket.
Nafees‘ younger brother, Chowdhury Navid, said his brother was telling the masked men to just take his belongings during the May 24 attack because he wanted to get through the ordeal.
“He was on his way home … and suddenly these two perpetrators out of nowhere, one with a knife and the other with a gun, they disarmed him and they robbed him,” Navid, 24, told The Post.
“My brother initially didn’t want to reveal his identity,” Navid said, adding that Nafees told the robbers to take his wallet and money.
“They saw the uniform and they were like ‘Oh, s–t, this is a f—ing cop.’”
But that didn’t stop them — it made the beatdown even worse, the brother said.
“After that, they assaulted him because he was a cop,” the brother said.
“There was no other reason. He was cooperating so that he could get away without any harm. Their anger toward the police department and the criminal justice system was deep enough for them to continue hurting my brother.”
The rookie officer, who joined the NYPD in September, had a knife placed to his throat as he was robbed of his gun, shield and phone on St. Peter’s Avenue in Westchester Square, video of the attack showed.
One of the goons even kicked Nafees in the face before fleeing.
The officer underwent successful surgery on his eye at Jacobi Hospital and was sent home Wednesday, the brother said.
“I don’t want this to happen to anybody, not just my brother because he’s a police officer,” he said, adding that his family was considering moving away from the city. “I don’t want anyone to face anything like this ever.”
Robert Garland, a retired NYPD detective and founder of FundtheFirst.com, which is hosting a fundraiser for Nafees, said the men should face an extended prison sentence for assaulting a police officer.
“If they’re not brought to proper justice, others will know,” said Garland, adding that other criminals will assume they can do the same.
“They’ll think, ‘I’m going to go out there and I’m going to beat up a cop,’” he said.
“‘I’ll only go to jail for a few years.’”
One of the alleged culprits, Taveon Hargrove, 23, was arrested Tuesday in Virginia, where investigators believe he fled to a family friend’s home. Fellow suspect, 23-year-old Wayne Lucas was also nabbed in Virginia — wearing a long wig as a disguise, police said.
The revolving-door criminal justice system in the city is leading to the increase in assaults, said retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at Penn State University-Lehigh Valley, Joseph Giacalone.
“You have DAs like Alan Bragg who don’t even want to prosecute felony assaults against cops,” he said. “So where’s the deterrence? You have a criminal justice system that’s a revolving door and people are getting arrested 40, 50, 60 times. The cops are dealing with people out on the streets who are really bad.”
“I think it actually just gets worse,” he warned.
“I think people have just lost respect for the NYPD.”
One retired veteran NYPD detective believes more cops are being assaulted because they’re taught to deescalate situations.
“It’s always deescalate and never take control, which often emboldens perp and gives them an advantage,” the retired officer said.
PBA President Patrick Hendry blamed a lack of fear of assaulting cops on a dearth of consequences.
“When these two vicious criminals found out they were attacking a police officer, they didn’t get scared and run away,” he said.
“They beat him even harder. These assault statistics are a product of the same criminal mindset.
“They have no fear because they don’t believe the justice system will deliver any consequences.”
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch vowed a swift response to any assaults on police officers.
“Attack one of our own and you will get the full force of the greatest police department in the world coming for you,” she wrote on X.
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