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Dozens of fed-up NYPD officers have fled the department en masse to go work for Long Island’s Nassau County Police Department, The Post has learned — with insiders citing an increasingly anti-cop climate in the city and underwhelming pay.

The approximately 50 now-former Finest, many of whom had less than five years on the job, have jumped ship since Friday even though it meant taking a pay cut in the short term, law-enforcement sources said.

“They are going to a department where they will be better appreciated by their community, local politicians and district attorneys who still value the job they do protecting innocent people and property over criminals,” said one source, explaining the trade-off.

Despite the initial cut, the newly-minted Nassau cops will also end up making more money in the long run, sources said, only sweetening the deal.

Though the exit wasn’t an overnight decision — Nassau County last held an entrance exam in January 2018, and is still drawing from that list, according to the department’s recruiting site — the cops took the plunge in the wake of widespread anti-cop protests, restrictive legislation and NYPD funding cuts in the city.

Over the summer, cops were retiring so quickly that the NYPD had to cap the rate at which they could do so.

But whereas many of those outgoing cops were senior investigators who had put in enough time to claim their pensions, most of those going to Nassau are still in the early stages of their careers — meaning that the loss will be felt longer within the NYPD, and that the city has gotten less return on the money they invested training them.

“The city spent millions of dollars training these cops hoping that they would be around for another 20-plus years,” said one Manhattan cop. “That money and experience just walked out the door, putting a further drain on the city’s budget nightmare.”

Sensing low morale within the ranks, the federal Department of Homeland Security over the summer actively tried to poach disillusioned NYPD cops.

But Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association union, pointed the finger at an unwillingness on the part of the city to pony up for quality law-enforcement.

“We continue to lose trained, experienced police officers to Nassau County and other departments where they can earn up to 70 percent more,” said Lynch in a statement. “It’s yet another sign that New York City politicians don’t really care about improving policing in this city.

“What they want is fewer cops on streets, and their refusal to pay us a fair-market wage is getting them exactly that.”

Additional reporting by Tina Moore

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