NYPD transitioning to younger detectives due to retirement of 500 veterans in the last year
NEW YORK -- The NYPD has faced a wave of retirements this year, and not just officers.
The department has lost hundreds of detectives since this time last year.
John Ulmer spent his entire 35-year career at the 73rd Precinct in Brownsville, Brooklyn. As he walked out one last time on Thursday, he was flanked by family and friends.
For the last two decades, he has been a detective, focused on helping the community.
"Victims of homicides, their families," Ulmer said. "Finding missing kids, runaways. Trying to get them on the right track."
That work is time consuming, and there are fewer men and women on the job.
"Guys in general here catch 400 cases a year. That's anywhere from a harassment to a homicide case. Hopefully, we can get guys into the bureau before it's too late," Ulmer said.
More than 500 detectives have retired in the last year.
"And when you're losing that experience and knowledge, that takes years to obtain, it's going to have a devastating effect on victims," said Det. Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association.
READ MORE: Many NYPD officers are headed to Florida, thanks to incentives
DiGiacomo says the case load has become overwhelming.
"They have to prioritize the cases. So if you get a shooting or homicide, that'll take a priority over a your low-level crime," DiGiacomo said.
And picking which cases to focus on, isn't easy.
"Every case is important. You want to reach out to these people. Everybody deserves to be treated equally, but sometimes it just doesn't happen that way," Det. Timothy O'Brien said.
READ MORE: 4 top NYPD executives retiring at end of year
Over the summer, CBS2 asked Chief of Detectives James Essig about retirements, and the impact that has on solving cases.
"You can't replace experience. That's tough. But some of our younger officers, they're very good, very young, which means they're very tech savvy, which we need that kind of experience to solve homicides," Essig said.
As the NYPD works to boost numbers, collaboration has been key to managing the loss of so many detectives.
"We still have some senior guys here who teach the young guys. The younger guys have really picked it up," Ulmer said, "and sometimes the younger guys teach the new guys, with all the video out here, all the technology."
Ulmer said he hopes the department will do more to allow others to one day enjoy a farewell like his, as he now prepares for his second act.
"So I guess I'll be sleeping tomorrow a little bit and, hopefully, my wife won't throw me out," Ulmer said.
