Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and Analysis - Bill O'Reilly: The NYPD - Then vs. Now

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

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This episode is brought to you by San Pellegrino Chau. A new kind of flavor of sparkling water. The kind made with real fruit juice, a pinch of Sicilian salt, and the sparkle of the Italian sun. With no added sugar and just 10 or less calories per can, enjoy with love from Italy. By San Pellegrino Chau now. You know, my grandfather was an NYPBGPG. officer. He joined a force when he came back from World War I. This is an amazing story. His name was John O'Reilly. And my people came over to the United States from Ireland

shortly after the Civil War ended. And they were victims of the famine over there, and they were evicted from their land, and a destitute, and two twin boys, 16 years old, went on a death ship. They call it a coffin ship, because so many people died out of Galway and they landed in Brooklyn. And their mother didn't go and their father was dead. Mother's state in Ireland. And these boys started the O'Reilly side and they never left Brooklyn. They stayed in Brooklyn. My father was born in Brooklyn, so it was my grandfather. During the Depression, my grandfather had an income because he was with the NYPD. And he was a hero in World War I at the Battle of Muse Argon, the worst battle, casualty-wise, the Americans have ever

fought. Now, it was fought in northern France. So he came back and he joined the cops like many thousands of Irish did. And he had a 20-year career. And after that, he did bank security. So my grandfather was a tough guy. And he liked his 20 years with the cops. I have his Billy Club. And it's used. And the policing back then in the 1920s and 30s was a lot different than the policing now. I'm not saying it was better because some of the cops back then beat the hell out of people. And I never talked to my grandfather about it, but I wouldn't put it past him. Again, he was a very tough guy. He was only 19 years old when he was in that battle in World War I. And 75% of his battalion is sustained casualty.

he didn't get a scratch. It's an amazing story. Anyway, a fast forward up today where the NYPD doesn't have enough cops. They can't recruit. Listen to the stat. In the year 2017, 18,000 people applied to be New York City police officers. All right? Last year, 8,000.

A 56% decline. So now, the police are dropping standards. So it used to be out of 60 credits of college and a 2.0 grade point average, which is about as mediocre as it gets. If you can't get a 2.0, you're not, you shouldn't be in college. Now they dropped it to 24 college credits, no GPA. So they're obviously signaling will take you even if you're not smart, even if you don't know much, because they're desperate. All right. Now, at the top of the line, in the year 2000, right before 9-11, there were 40,000 New York City police officers.

That is what we need, 40,000 to police a city of 8.5 million. Now, the headcount is 34,000 and change. Okay? And every week, there is a flood of people retiring or going to. to other police agencies, like Nassau County, where I am, that pay more and appreciate the cops. The problem here is the New York City Council does not respect policing.

Most of these people are socialist looms. They hate the police. And they make it so hard to do the job, which is dangerous anyway. Being a cop is dangerous. dangerous, as everybody knows. And now you can spit in the face of an officer, you can curse, swear at them, you can do all kinds of things, and you won't even be prosecuted by Alvin Bragg and these other district attorneys, Marcel Clark in the Bronx, the worst. Worse than Brack.

So why would you want to be a New York City police officer? Why? You're going to be treated badly, the system isn't going to back you up, you're not making great money, and you're at risk for violence every single day. So a lot of people go, no. Now, I look at it as a challenge, if my son came to me and said, Dad, I want to be an NYPD officer, I'd say, good. I would. Carry on the family tradition. I wouldn't discourage him, but I would explain to him how difficult his job is going to be. And it should not be this difficult. But these city council members are awful, terrible. We need a new mayor and we need a new council.