Police officers across the nation are leaving their jobs because of the “defund the police” policies in cities, leaving personnel shortages and longer response times.
A survey of several large cities shows a downsizing with fewer applications to fill the vacancies as crime is on the rise. Los Angeles has even taken the step of offering a rental subsidy in exchange for taking a job at the Los Angeles Police Department.
Dennis Zine has spent 54 years working for the LAPD, currently as a reservist after retiring as a sergeant. He is a former city councilman and an organizer for a campaign to recall District Attorney George Gascon.
“All these cities with a woke generation mentality like ‘defund the police,’ ‘neuter the police,’ ‘we don’t need the police’ is affecting what we are seeing,” Zine told the Washington Examiner. “Black Lives Matter was instrumental in getting a lot of people out.”
Law enforcement certainly don’t do their jobs for the pay, so when police feel unappreciated, they leave, he said.
VIOLENT CRIME SURGES IN CHICAGO WHILE POLICE BACK OFF ARRESTS
“If you want police officers, they need respect, and that went out the window,” Zine said. Politicians have “become so negative on law enforcement — why do people want to be a police officer? It doesn’t pay.”
Arrests are down for the LAPD by 15.8%, which is partially due to staffing problems. The department has 700 fewer officers than it did five years ago.
In Chicago, the murder rate is at a 25-year high, with 800 cases last year, yet arrests have dropped to 12%, as fewer officers are on the job, and those who are don’t want to confront suspects, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation revealed.
“I talk to law enforcement leaders on a daily basis. And in today’s world, their No. 1 problem is staffing,” retired police Chief Jeff Halstead told Fox News. “And what you hear is the same drum being beaten: How are we going get ourselves through this? And what steps are we going to take to get our staffing back?”
The national goal for police response is to be on the scene within five minutes. For decades, departments met that goal across the United States, but it’s now unclear if anyone is succeeding in this, Halstead said.
Morale is at an all-time low, with officers feeling like they will be criminally charged in the course of doing their jobs, Halstead added.
In Philadelphia, the city’s police department is 20% below its targeted staffing level, while Portland, Oregon, is minus 230 officers compared to 2020. Even Noblesville, Indiana, with a population of 64,668, is seeing fewer applications, Fox News said.
Lower staffing means fewer cases are being solved and officer training is not a priority. This doesn’t bode well for taxpayers, police say.
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“I think that you’re starting to see the public step up and say, ‘Look, we’re not going to take this anymore. We’re not … going to live in a crime-ridden community. We are going to support the police. We want the police funded, and we are going to be there for police — to support them because we need them,” retired police Chief Jeff Rasche told Fox News.
