NYPD black & blue: NYC cops suffered record-breaking number of injuries in 2024

The majority of officer injuries in the first three quarters of 2024 — 4,285 — were minor, but 192 were considered “substantial” and required treatment at a hospital, and 123 were seen as “serious” enough to warrant hospital admission. 

One top cop blamed the NYPD Bruise on the influx of more than 58,000 migrant criminals into the Big Apple.

“When the laws dictate that there are no meaningful consequences to assaulting police officers and we are housing that very same criminal element free of charge, of course there will be many more interactions with the very same violent individuals we couldn’t prosecute or deport,” SBA President Vincent Vallelong told The Post. 

“We have a notorious gang that is poisoning our city and they are given free passes, jeopardizing the lives of our law enforcement officers and compromising public safety,” he continued, referring to the Venezuelan outlaws known as Tren de Aragua.

“A lot more migrants [assault cops] than regular citizens,” said one officer with more than two decades on the job. 

As of last month, nearly 8% of the 759,218 illegal migrants living in New York City were either previously convicted of crimes or had criminal charges pending, according to jaw-dropping ICE data exposed by The Post. 

In one particularly ugly, migrant-fueled incident, two groups of brawling illegals ganged up on a pair of officers who arrived to break up a May 19 fight inside of the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown.

One officer was bitten in his left arm and bruised on his left leg. Another suffered injuries to his head, right elbow and wrist. One of the heartless assailants even tried to steal an officer’s hat as a trophy, police sources said at the time.

Both cops were taken to the hospital in stable condition, and four migrants were arrested – three of whom had rap sheets prior to the incident, according to sources. 

Just last month, a 33-year-old migrant from Mexico was busted for attacking two cops while they tried to cuff him for a street brawl in Elmhurst, Queens. 

Mauricio David Sosa, who had just punched another man in the face, slugged one cop in the face and kicked another in the lower stomach when they went to arrest him, according to authorities. 

Sosa was later charged with two counts of felony assault and resisting arrest, police said. 

On Jan. 27, as many as 14 migrants joined in a vicious, caught-on-camera beating of two police officers in Times Square. Only one of the suspects was ever jailed, while five were charged but let go without bail.

About a week later, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced he had indicted seven of the alleged attackers, but authorities at the time said they had all already fled to California.

Beyond violent migrants, critics cited bail reform and soft-on-crime prosecutors like Bragg for the surge in cop assaults. 

“The de-carceral approach taken by both district attorneys and judges toward perpetrators who assault police officers is the main driver behind this ever-increasing rise in assaults…The public sees no one is going to jail for it, so it’s ‘I can do what I want,’ ” said NYPD Lt. John Macari.

“Shoplifters, drug dealers, protestors, and migrants have no fear of putting their hands on anyone – including the police,” he added.

“Far too many routine calls are turning into all-out brawls, and the reason is obvious: our justice system keeps releasing the same violent, repeat offenders, and they keep attacking cops when we try to lock them up again,” agreed Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry. 

Repeat criminal Ernst Delma was on probation Aug. 8 when he viciously punched rookie officer Mary Fay to the ground in the Soundview neighborhood of The Bronx, according to authorities. 

Video taken moments after the clobbering – which occurred after Fay tried to break up an argument between Delma, 41, and a group of kids – shows blood streaming down the officer’s face as a bystander helps her up off the sidewalk. Other cops pounced on Delma.

Fay sustained a cut to her lip and was taken to a local hospital in stable condition.

Delma, who was on probation for a New Jersey conviction at the time, had numerous prior arrests for assault and burglary over the past several years – including a random slugging of a 57-year-old woman in Midtown in July 2022, police sources said. 

The brute was charged with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration.

On Nov. 19, career criminal Gary Worthy was stopped by cops after robbing a Jamaica, Queens smoke shop at gunpoint. Worthy, 57, turned and fired at officers, striking veteran officer Rich Wong in the thigh. The wounded hero cop fired back, hitting Worthy in the face and killing him.

Wong was transported to Jamaica Hospital and released the next morning as more than 200 NYPD cops cheered him on.

Worthy was already on lifetime parole and had served two stints in state prison before the fatal incident. Just a couple of months earlier, a Queens judge had cut Worthy loose on despite pleas from the Queens District Attorney’s Office to set bail on a pair of cases for assault and burglary.

Between August and September, cops from the NYPD’s 46th Precinct suffered the most injuries – 51 – out of all 78 precincts citywide, according to the “Use of Force” data.

“The 46 is one of the more violent commands, and these perps just feel like there’s no consequences,” explained the cop with 20 years on the job.

The stats also show an eye-popping 29% surge in subject injuries in the first three quarters of 2024 compared to the same period last year, with 4,515 this year compared to 3,497 in 2023. 

Overall, there was a 20% increase in the number of interactions between cops and perps where at least one party was injured in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period last year.

The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.