BP, D.A. take concerns over police staffing to NYPD commissioner

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — With the number of New York City Police Department officers patrolling Staten Island streets down, Borough President Vito Fossella and District Attorney Michael E. McMahon have reached out to NYPD leadership to find a solution.

Fossella, a Republican, and McMahon met with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch regarding the number of uniformed officers assigned to the borough. The pair issued a statement on social media following the meeting, stating that they are in the process of working together.

“We are grateful for her responsiveness and commitment to Staten Island and public safety citywide. We share a strong dedication to keep our communities safe and look forward to continuing our work together to ensure Staten Island and the NYPD citywide have the staffing and resources needed to protect all New Yorkers,” read the post. “We thank the commissioner again for her partnership and willingness to engage in these important conversations, her support, and her insight into the specific needs of keeping Staten Island the safe community it is.”

As of Tuesday, no plans regarding an increase of police on the Island have been announced.

According to McMahon, Staten Island has had a 12 percent decrease in officers in the past year.

In mid-late February 2025, 717 uniformed officers served on Staten Island. As of mid-February this year, the borough only had 630 uniformed officers deployed across its four precincts, the district attorney’s office told the Advance/SILive.com. New York City staffs approximately 33,000 NYPD officers.

A spokesperson for the NYPD touted a drop in crime on Staten Island when asked about the request.

“Thanks to the incredible work of the members of the NYPD, major crime is down on Staten Island, including zero murders so far this year. We are constantly monitoring crime across the city, and we deploy officers where they are needed most,” said the spokesperson. “We appreciate Borough President Fossella and District Attorney McMahon’s continued support of the NYPD.”

Growing trend

The number of uniformed officers deployed to Staten Island over recent years as of mid-late February of each year has changed annually:

February 2021 – 780

February 2022 – 743

February 2023 – 693

February 2024 – 752

February 2025 – 717

February 2026 – 630

Compared to February of 2021, there has been a 19 percent reduction in Staten Island’s police force.

According to McMahon, in 1968, when the Island’s population was below 300,000 people, Staten Island had 800 active duty NYPD officers. Advance/SILive.com archives indicate that in 1995 then-Police Commissioner William Joseph Bratton employed 1,000 police officers in the borough.

As previously reported by the Advance/SILive.com, in 1998 the borough was protected by a total of 1,407 officers.

This reduction in officers impacts Staten Island as a whole, in particular, those neighborhoods experiencing higher crime rates, McMahon said.

“You don’t have cops out in patrol cars, you don’t have police officers on the street and so that sense of prevention, that presence is lost and investigations are delayed…” he said.

Staten Island isn’t the only borough experiencing reductions in the police force, according to McMahon, as these decreases are a citywide issue.