Following the “defund the police” movement and the “abolish the police” movement, constant negative coverage of law enforcement by the media, anti-police sentiment becoming mainstream, and the threat of riots have contributed to a police shortage across the country.
The Philadelphia Police Department currently has 268 vacancies and is expecting even more shortages in the near future.
“From Jan. 1 through Thursday, 79 Philadelphia officers have been accepted into the city’s Deferred Retirement Option Program, meaning they intend to retire within four years, according to Mayor Jim Kenney’s office,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. “During the same time period last year, just 13 officers had been accepted into the program, the office said.”
“It’s the perfect storm. We are anticipating that the department is going to be understaffed by several hundred members, because hundreds of guys are either retiring or taking other jobs and leaving the department,” Mike Neilon, spokesperson for the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police, told the newspaper.
Neighboring New Jersey is facing a “recruiting crisis,” according to Pat Colligan, president of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association.
Colligan said that recent notorious police-involved deaths of citizens such as George Floyd, Tamir Rice, and Breonna Taylor have impacted recruiting efforts.
“Every action has a reaction. When you vilify every police officer for every bad police officer’s decision, [people] don’t want to take this job anymore,” Colligan, head of New Jersey’s largest police union, said. “It’s been a very trying and difficult time to put on the badge every day.”
Colligan also said the “quality has really diminished in the last few years,” which could mean more tragic police confrontations in the future.
Col. Patrick Callahan, the acting superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said the state’s largest police agency received a “historically low” number of applications this year. In some years, the New Jersey State Police would usually receive between 15,000 to 20,000 applications – this year they only received 2,023 qualified applicants as of Thursday, according to NJ.com.
“The atmosphere with police work right now is people just don’t want to apply,” Robert Fox, president of the New Jersey State Fraternal Order of Police, said.
The Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 said there were “recruitment and retention issues,” which prompted the “topic of closing police district(s).”
“Our Patrol numbers are now below 700 officers which is about 300-400 below what is needed,” the Baltimore FOP said, according to WBFF-TV. “This creates huge safety issues for our officers and for the citizens of Baltimore.”
After facing a police shortage, Albany Police Chief Michael Persley said the department should offer more incentives to attract new recruits.
Officials also said that the pandemic has hurt police recruiting since new officer training was suspended.
“And you got to remember that once you go into the academy, it takes you about 10 months to finish. So, we’re not looking at putting any boots on the ground until maybe next Spring,” Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5 President John McNesby told WPVI-TV.
Police shortage in Philadelphia developing into very real concern, FOP president says
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Police work? Like sitting on a large metal trash can full of RATS…you sit on the lid,hoping to keep the Rats from escaping. Every once and awhile the lid pops open and a few rats get out to terrorize the neighborhood. That is police work. Lately…the RAT’S ARE WINNING!
I couldn’t be happier knowing the grief that these stupid city governments are causing the people stupid enough to vote them in. “People get the government they deserve.” — unknown
Exactly right. Just need to block the people from t leaving their blue cities and spreading the democrat disease.
I was on a department for 3 1/2 years of a medium city back in the 80s. I just didn’t like it. Dealing with people not at their best and some BS calls. I couldn’t imagine it now. That city has gotten larger since ,and the population increased with CAs convicts and now with the bad attitudes of their kids.I stay in touch with someone I went through academy with. He was going to do 35 years. He can’t do it anymore.
Well, what a surprise…
I think its only fair that our police have the same policy that all the vaxx/ shot companies have. No liability/ exempt from families and government suing or holding them responsible when someone dies from the shot or has adverse reactions. This c19 shot is killing people, its experimental. They have been working on the c19 shot for over 20 years and still could not get it approved by the FDA but right now all the companies are exempt. When police are doing their duties and someone gets killed they too should be exempt.
I am with you 100%. I can’t believe police are still on duty. BLM is loud enough, maybe they can replace the cops.
GlennVA
If you are a cop now our better get out while you can before you are prosecuted foe doing you job or being fired for nothing. Every officer in the united states should quit on July 1 and tell the cities and states that you will return once the cities back you up until it is proven you did something wrong. Answer no calls involving blacks until a city election official is with you. Now on Aug. 1 just a month tell the cities and states you will return to work with a 25% pay raise and qualified immunity. After a month of no police everyone will be begging you to return to work. I was an officer for over 25 years but would not put up with this B.S. now and neither should you. Get out before you get sued because you did not stop a speeder and he had a accident 2 blocks down the road and killed someone. You will be charged. If you stop someone for a traffic violation and they make a complaint you will be given days off or fired.
YOU CAN NOT win so ou better get out.
This is a sad state of affairs. Police departments will all be understaffed and you will have to be your own first responder. Joe wants to put a stop to you defending yourself too. The people calling for the end of policing are either politicians or criminals wanting a better work environment.
I have NO compassion for the citizens of these cities. They voted these a$$holes into office decades ago. Their cities have progressively gotten worse and they still vote Democrats into office. TOO F%CK!NG BAD; you got what you deserved; I hope you all waste away to nothing and we can start over. Stupidity should not be allowed to propagate. I used to be completely different, but watching this self-imposed insanity has permanently changed my outlook. It’s now Armageddon and we will respond such; we didn’t do this, YOU DID. YOU insufferable Liberals who are nothing but DIRECT enemies of our country and until they are seen as such; the country will continue to fall into total disarray. You may have hated Trump for the person he was but it was because he was “that type of person” that brought back respect to this country. I despise him for the character of man he is but he is what is needed in this corrupted, political scene. Man up or be destroyed; I vote “Man Up” but who the Hell am I. Know this you Washington D.C. political dicks; I have no problem pulling the trigger on one of you assholes; Republicans included. Anyone thinking that the Republicans are our saviors are just as stupid as the city dwellers who continue to vote for the Liberals to run their cities. Until we take the entire lot of nearly 550 of those a$$holes and hang them on the 14th street bridge and start over; nothing will change and it WILL get worse. Good people must rise up against these collaborators and destroy them all; it may take a civil war unfortunately.
Well said, brother. I am completely fed up with the idiocy that permeates this country. If I could get 10 million patriots to join me, I would march in the army of the discontented. But, unfortunately, I think it’s hopeless at this point. When the ball goes over the top of the mountain and starts rolling downhill, pretty soon it can’t be stopped. I plan to emigrate from the U.S., and go to one of the many countries in the world that still welcome honest, hard-working people who believe in freedom and responsibility. Sadly, the U.S. is no longer one of those countries. The communist countries had/have a one party dictatorship, and the U.S. has a two-party dictatorship. The majority of people in this country will NEVER be able to understand this, for two simple reasons: first, too many people do not observe things and do not think about what they are observing. And second, the left has co-opted the majority of institutions in this country–government, schools, universities, the judicial system, the media, big corporations, etc.– and runs them to further the leftist cause: transforming the country into a government-dominated socialist “paradise” with no possibility of ever dismantling it. If they get 4 more senators with D.C. and P.R. and stack what’s left of the Supreme Court, it’s game over for sure. There was apparently so much cheating and skullduggery going on in the 2020 election–I saw scores and scores of seemingly credible instances of illegal activity in voting procedures that were never investigated or punished–that I don’t think the leftists will ever permit another fair election to happen. My own family is full of smart people who don’t use their brains and are completely blinded and brainwashed about what’s happening and why it’s happening.
I live in a state where confusion, lack of leadership, a Democratic governor that thinks he is a Zar, and 3 major cities that elect all the idiots in our state government. With Seattle being one of the worst (only Portland, OR is close or equal to) run cities in the country. DE-funding he police allowing BLM and Antifa to run wild at there whim and taxing the businesses along with making them pay outrageous salaries for STARTING POSITIONS and HAZARDOUS Pay, running business’s out of the State. All of the problem cities in WA, OR, CAL and eastern states are run by DEMONCRATS, the major problems are the uninformed/uneducated voting populous and voter fraud are prevalent in all these states. Unless we find a way to eradicate the Demoncrats (find a way to vote them out) the problem will only get worse.
I am a former law enforcement officer. Floyd killed himself through his own actions. Fear was the juries motivation to convict. The officer did not get a fair trial and never will. Police numbers are low over the past year due to the lack of support by the government (democrats). BLM (Burn Loot Murder) and Antifa are the democrat terrorist organizations.
George Floyd was arrested at least 9 times, as he served 9 prison terms. With all this experience, he did not understand that resisting arrest is against the law. What did he expect? He would be alive today if he cooperated with the police officer.
Why would anyone continue on the police force? Each officer puts his life on the line daily. Each officer faces being accused of racism just for doing the job we expect him to do. Each one risks prison if he has to use his firearm when he protects himself against and armed criminal and now the liberal progressive racist activists are demanding that the qualified immunity, which doesn’t help them much anyway, be removed.
I agree most should quit. Those pretty close to retirement should merely put in their time but never get close to any blacks. Delay showing up to any call in black neighborhoods and hope whatever is going on will be over by the time they get there.
Well, golly gee whiz! Whodda thunk it?!
To paraphrase P. J. O’Rourke: If you think crime is bad now, wait’ll the cops are gone. But hey, keep right on voting for Dimocrats and see how long you can hang on to the “free chit” they promise in return for votes.
It is too bad that they are not leaving because of their funerals.
Andy. Again I hope you die of some incredibly horrible painful disease . Your are a f@@ing pathetic piece of Sh$$. Hopefully we’ll have your funeral soon
All the excuses are foolish. It reminds me of the ‘60’s when young men, due to the draft, (in order to serve in the military division they chose, they had to enlist, instead of going with the draft), our young troops were vilified by the misguided, and rigid mind sets of people, with no thinking, or reasoning, involved.
Our police officers have been vilified by people who have no clue or simply ignore, that across the country there are hundreds of thousands of police officer just doing their jobs.
Now on top of never knowing what situation they are walking into, and then having far too much of the actual truth left out at the outset of an incident by the mainstream media, They are vilified, their names, and addresses, are ‘leaked’, and their families threatened. Is it any wonder that the main group standing between us and those who would break the law is deciding to opt out? Somehow common sense has to be brought into the equation.
Even mw forced a unit of Capitol Police to accompany her on her riot inciting. I would love to be a little bird when those officers returned home after watching her vilify the very people she used for her own safety.
Well, the endgame here is to wipe out all local police forces. They can then be replaced by the democrats with a national police force like the gestapo or the kgb or the kempeitai. Then we will end up with street brawls just like Germany went through between the Freikorps/Nazis/Communists. The democrats’ secular humanist nihilism is a revolutionary disaster for our country. BLM and Antifa are the paramilitary arms of the democratic party. There, I said it, and I stand by it!
I am afraid it has reached the point where the US can only be taken back by reconstructing our government from the ground up, and severely eviscerating its powers. If that cannot be done, I do not like to think about the other alternative.
First, though, we need to bring an end to the ridiculous “pigmentation politics” that is infiltrating every aspect of our culture. It is terminally toxic. We need to prosecute those people bankrolling professional agitators to the full extent of the law. The FBI certainly knows who these people are, and needs to step up and do its job.
The bankrollers of BLM and Antifa are anti-American, and we need a committee on un-American activities in congress to hold them accountable. Congress needs to do its job too.
Thank you God for all of the good cops emergency responders and fellow military members that were there to save my ass when I was in trouble through out my life….
If one is interested in law enforcement I would suggest that you pursue that career field in a red state. Let the blue states slide off into hell!! They created the situation let them pay the price for it. Let the ghetto rats burn there houses, and mug there asses in the streets. I think Im gonna just grab me some corn and watch thankful for those that keep us from having to deal with the roaches and ghetto rats.