Their budget didn't grow - it was reduced by over a billion dollars in 2020. It was increased this year, which is what he is probably talking about, but not back up to pre-2020 levels. Additionally, they lost qualified immunity and can be personally sued for arresting people, even legitimate arrests. Furthermore, new rules were put into effect to make it much harder to arrest a resisting criminal. For instance, if they both fall to the ground and the officer lands on top, he is breaking the rules and a lawsuit against him may be successful.

Despite all that, and contrary to the original premise of this comment chain, arrests are still up month over month across the city. The cops aren't on soft strike and are making arrests.

The guy you are talking to is either lying on purpose or an idiot. Hard to tell.

NYPD arrests are up across the board month over month across most precincts in the city.