The NYPD will add 1,200 more recruits to its ranks in 2024, Mayor Eric Adams announced at a press conference with NYPD officials on Saturday.

The mayor said the city will fund two additional police academy classes, which are set for June and October 2024. Recruits in those classes will become officers in January and April 2025 respectively.

“While we continue to drive down shootings and homicides at a historic level, these officers will give us the much needed support to continue this success,” Adams said.

The newly announced police academy recruits will supplement 1,200 recruits who have already started training this year, bringing the total number of new NYPD recruits in 2024 to 2,400. The surge in recruitment comes as the Adams administration plans to increase the total number of uniformed NYPD officers to 35,000 in the coming years. It also comes as the city has in recent months sought to address concerns over public safety and violent crime through policing measures such as deploying additional officers on the subways as well as conducting random checks of passengers’ bags.

Police Commissioner Edward Caban, who spoke after Adams, called the funding a “major win for public safety in New York City.” He said the city needs more officers so it can continue to reduce crime across the five boroughs. Overall crime is down 3% year to date, according to NYPD data.

“They’re the ones who stay on the street corner and let the world know: ‘Not today, not on my watch,’” he said. “So, as commissioner, if you ask me what I need most, the answer will always be more cops.”

Police data shows that there are currently 33,695 uniformed officers in New York City.

This is the Adams administration’s second major decision on police academy classes in 2024. In January, the mayor announced that he would reverse cuts to the NYPD’s budget and allow it to add 600 new recruits.