Police agencies across much of the US are facing recruitment and retention problems. The current political climate in some places is such that being a police officer isn't worth the paltry coin. So, i the midst of the defund-the-police narrative, many cops are saying "Don't bother, we'll take care of that for you."
Portland cops are already retiring in record numbers, but now cops are fleeing mid-career to go to places for lower pay and a fiscal hit to their retirement accounts. The Democrats’ embrace of the antifa and BLM defund-the-police stance is working—leaving Portlanders even more defenseless against rioters, looters, arsonists, squatters, and terrorists. In essence, the exodus is “a win by those that would want the police to be defunded,” according to the Portland Police Bureau’s human resources officer.
Being a police officer is more than a job. In many cases, it's a calling, a way of life. Many police officers feel like they are making a positive impact on the community that they serve. When a police agency becomes dispirited because the political leadership does not support the police.
It's not just Portland, OR. Policing is changing across the US, fueled by societal changes taking place, driven by the political climate. In blue run cities across the US, good police officers are checking their options. In many cases, they are choosing to vote with their feet, and go to a place where their skills are appreciated.
It takes six months, minimum, to train a new police officer. Sometimes longer, depending on the agency. When your veteran cops start to bail on political leadership, it causes a downward spiral. Less officers on the street mans more work for the ones that are left, more crime on the street, less resiliency in the department, an inability for the remaining officers to take time off when they need to reset.
It's a sad state of affairs when police officers start bailing o an agency, but the reason is always that the political leadership fails to appreciate the difficult ob of being a police officer.
Another thing to consider is that untrained residents will try to fill the gap left by departing police officers. The paradox is that police are being chased away by highly restrictive rules-of-engagement and being dunned for being "too violent", and those officers will be replaced by people with no training, no rules-of-engagement.
ReplyDeleteSome situations that could have been de-escalated by a couple of cops with average training will turn into a blood-bath with down-range casualties.
Police work is similar to sausage making, you enjoy the result but the process doesn t bear close examination by the uninitiated.
ReplyDeleteDefund the police is only one facet of the problem.
A much smaller recruitment pool means generally lower quality recruits.
Loss of respect from the community means much lower morale.
All of this spirals downward at an accelerating rate.
Throw in revolutionary agendas and disaster looms.
I'll just leave this here: https://youtu.be/ha-7SETmJD4
ReplyDeletePortland, Minneapolis, and Seattle, and other places are getting what they deserve. It would serve them right if all of the police quit their jobs and moved away. It would be like Old Detroit before Robocop showed up.
ReplyDeleteThe communists LIKE police. They just don't like OUR police.
ReplyDeleteInsert the word gun for police and the totality of the gun control argument is revealed.
People forget that "policing" is a 20th century phenomenon. Our plethora of militarized
ReplyDeleteagencies would startle folks before 1900. As police departments increased, so did crime.
Funny how that works. Before then, we took the miscreants out and strung them up - after a fair trial of course. Now they go into the "system" and get recycled over and over demanding more and more of our resources expressed as "law enforcement".
So yes, I'm all for reducing the SWAT teams by half and eliminating the "Fusion Centers". The citizenry has proved itself quite adept at handling crime over the centuries.
... and no ERJ we won't put our eye out. We're responsible.