Police in the United States are going through an exodus ‘crisis’ in which the law enforcement officers are leaving their jobs at a rate ‘never seen before’ with some departments seeing hundreds of members leaving, several of the nation’s top police officials said.
Patrick Yoes, the president of the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) sounded the alarm during the third annual Faith & Blue conference in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, emphasizing the crisis in manpower in the profession dependent on the best and brightest stepping up and taking this job.
Yoes underscored that in the last two years, they’ve been through very difficult time in American history in which law enforcement has been demonized by many, creating a rift that has eroded the very trust of the institution and the profession of law enforcement.
The annual conference that encourages conversation and communication between faith groups, law enforcement agencies and the communities convened top representatives from 19 local, state and federal police agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Speaking about retention and recruitment, the event’s lead organizer and MovementForward CEO, Rev. Markel Hutchins, stressed that if police officers continue to have to work under the circumstances and situations that they’re working under now, the law enforcement agencies will not be able to recruit or retain or attract new talent.
He emphasized that the tensions-induced stresses and anxiety have driven the law enforcement professionals away, leaving no manpower to reduce crime.
Data shows that so far in 2022, 2,465 NYPD officers have submitted their papers to leave the agency – 71% of which did so before becoming eligible for their full pensions – which is a 42% jump from 2021.
According to data provided by the FOP earlier this month, more than 210 police and law enforcement officers have been shot in the line of duty so far this year as of July 31. That’s an increase of 14% from the same time last year.
The National Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Fund’s statistics show the deaths of officers in the line of duty jumped by 55% from 2020 to 2021, and the data the Major Cites Chiefs Association released last week shows homicides in big cities have surged by 50% since 2019.
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