BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Police Benevolent Association has a stark warning about your safety in the City of Buffalo, with a mass retirement expected in the next several months.
A healthcare agreement, between the City of Buffalo and the police department, expires at the end of June. Union leaders say after the agreement expires,
benefits could change. That's forcing some members to potentially retire.
Last month, 7 News reported 78 members could be off the job if that agreement is allowed to expire. Now, the 7 News I-Team is learning that number could be more like 90. That includes higher ups down to police officers.
7 News I-Team Investigator Ed Drantch spoke with Union President John Davidson, who says all of this could put the department below minimums.
Drantch: How detrimental will that be for the department?
Davidson: It will be catastrophic. It will be a cliff that you will not be able to climb out of for decades. You will lose over 10% of the department and you will lose almost everyone in a major leadership role.
Drantch: That's significant.
Davidson: I'm not fear mongering.
Drantch: Does that put safety at risk?
Davidson: Absolutely. It would lead to, undoubtedly, hidden costs and the fact that you're going to run into more lawsuits, you're going to run into more complaints. You're going to run into more overtime.
WATCH: Why could safety be at risk in Buffalo?
Overtime has become a big issue for the City of Buffalo.
The Buffalo Police Department's total pay increased by $12.1 million (+12.3%) from 2024 to 2025, with base pay rising $11.2 million (+13.8%), according to the report. The department spent over $18.5 million in overtime during the fiscal year.
Hiring more police officers is proving to be difficult. The city has only hired about a dozen cadets. Common Councilman Mitch Nowakowski says they won't all make it to the streets.
Drantch: What does that actually look like? There are people who are coming into the academy who want to be police officers, but cant pass.
Nowakowski: We had 14 individuals go into the academy and can't pass the agility.
Drantch: What does that tell you?
Nowakowski: It says to me that people are not signing up to be officers.
Drantch: So what do we need to do as a city to make sure that we are recruiting and getting the right people?
Nowakowski: The first is, is that it's a societal thing. I think that the younger generation has maligned what it is to be a police officer and what that means because of what they might see on social media. I do believe people do want to serve the public and we need to make sure that we have competitive wages in that same breath so that we attract good police officers.
The union says it's had more retirements this year than the past four years.
In a statement, Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon says:
“We are fully aware that the current healthcare MOA is set to expire at the end of June, while the union’s contract expired this past June. My administration has been in consistent and productive communication with the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association regarding the healthcare MOA and other related matters.
These discussions remain active, and we are committed to reaching a fair and responsible resolution. We will continue working directly with union leadership to get this done.”
