Dozens of former correction officers have filled the ranks of the newest lineup of police officers in New York City.
On Thursday, 555 people were sworn by the Police Academy as the newest cops for the NYPD. Of that group were 42 former correction officers, according to a source, Fox News reports. Some of the cops are celebrating their career change. Tyler Dyches, 28, had been with the Department of Correction since June 2017 until he received news that he’d been accepted into the academy.
“My last day I worked before I went on vacation, I went into a triple [shift]. And I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me? My last day before vacation?'” he told The New York Post. “So, I walked in there, and I walked out with a big garbage bag! And I had my own personal parade going over the bridge!”
While some might think working with the inmates could be the push for a new job, Dychess says it’s actually the administration. “The bad part about working at Rikers — I’ll be honest with you — it’s not the inmates,” he said. “It’s the administration. They’re not backing us up, and officers are getting hurt.”
He continued, saying: “We know that we can get hurt from inmates, but it’s getting hurt from inmates and getting hurt from the administration that makes it such a tough job.” One source alleged that officers are often expected to work multiple shifts in a row. “We come into work, and we don’t know when we are going home. It is not uncommon to work three of four shifts in a row,” said a source close to the matter.
