Things are not looking great for the nation’s police departments. Recruitment numbers are way, way down, and early exits and retirements are way, way up, according to a survey published by ABC News. In other words, the nation’s police departments are facing a “triple threat,” according to data collected by the Police Executive Research Forum, which conducted the survey.
The number of individuals applying to become police officers has declined by a shocking 63%, according to the group’s findings.
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The survey, which collected answers from mostly medium-sized police departments in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada, found that agencies are having the most difficulty recruiting nonwhite applicants, followed closely by female candidates.
In suburban Maryland, right outside of D.C., the Montgomery County police force is struggling. Acting Commissioner Marcus Jones attributes the decline to racial tensions stemming from recent violent altercations between police officers and minorities. “I can’t ignore that that’s a factor. When you do a job that’s being highly criticized on a daily basis, we have to ask ourselves, how do we find good candidates that really want to be under that type of scrutiny,” Jones said.
He added, “If you feel like you’re being scrutinized all the time, then this may not be the career that you want, so we understand that that may be a roadblock for us.”
More and more cops leave the force altogether after just a couple of years, the Police Executive Research Forum survey found. The survey also found that longtime officers are retiring in at a higher clip than in previous years.
Nearly 1 in 6 cops will become eligible for retirement in the next five years.
“This is an issue that keeps police chiefs up at night,” Police Executive Research Forum Executive Director Chuck Wexler said.
To boost enrollment, police departments are getting desperate, relaxing standards on things such as education and prior drug use. “Some of these changes, such as eliminating prohibitions on most tattoos, are reflections of broader changes in societal norms that agencies must adapt to,” the report said.
