Hundreds of Nassau officers expected to tale countywide retirement incentive, police commissioner says

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder is anticipating that close to 200 officers will retire from the department by early March in order to take advantage of a countywide early retirement incentive.

"In the next three weeks, the whole department will be completely changed," Ryder said in a recent interview. "We got an incentive. We're probably losing close to 200 people in the department."

The buyout program was proposed by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman as a cost-cutting measure designed to save about $27 million. The voluntary incentive program is offering buyouts — in lump-sum payments equaling $2,000 for each year of service — to county employees with more than 10 consecutive years of full-time employment.

The incentive, which was approved by both the Nassau County Legislature and the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, runs through March 5.

"So if you’re here for 35 to 40 years, you’re leaving with an extra $70,000 or $80,000," Ryder said. "And then you go into retirement. But the only problem is, now I got to do all these changes. I'm probably going to lose close to 10 chiefs."

The department of approximately 2,500 sworn officers has 14 chiefs, he said.

Ryder said the department is prepared for the change, with a current class of about 100 recruits set to graduate from the police academy soon. And another class of 150 recruits entering the academy in May.

"We lose a lot of experience, so the ones that are left behind are going to have to teach the young," Ryder said.

Blakeman, in a statement Monday, said: "Our early retirement program is a win-win for both our officers and for the taxpayers. To make up for any loss, we will continue to hire new police officers so that we operate at full strength." 

Nassau Police Benevolent Association president Tommy Shevlin, who heads the departments largest labor union, said in a statement: "We congratulate those members who have chosen to take advantage of this incentive and thank them for their years of dedicated service and sacrifice on behalf of Nassau County residents. Public safety remains our highest priority, and we are confident that staffing levels will be responsibly maintained to ensure the continued protection of our communities and the safety of our police officers."

The anticipated budget savings for the police department due to the early retirements couldn’t be calculated until after the March buyout deadline.

The police department’s budget for the 2026 fiscal year is about $631 million, Newsday has reported.

Nassau County has one of the largest police forces in the country.

In recent years, including in 2024, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Nassau as "The No. 1 Safest Community in America."

In the first nine months of 2025, crime was down in Nassau 11.82% over the prior year, according to the most recent statistics posted on the police department's website.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.