Police Departments Admit to Facing Massive Staffing Shortages
Jose Nino
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Police departments nationwide are having trouble conducting basic policing operations because of staffing shortages per a report by One American News. When he spoke before reporters on August 8, 2022, Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell announced that his department is short-staffed by around 100 police officers. Lovell’s statement comes at a time when the city is experiencing a roughly 207% surge in homicides since 2019.
Some pundits argue that the current shortage in police staff is largely due to the demonization the profession has faced in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. Calls to defund the police from the cultural Left have played a role in demoralizing this profession.
“We, like many cities in the country, do have staffing challenges,” stated Chief Lovell. “Currently, we have about 770 officers and we are authorized 882. So, we’re down about 100 officers at the time.”
Gresham Police Sergeant Travis Garrison said the increase in violent crime and the officer shortage is making his department respond to fewer calls.
“So right now, because of the spike in violent crime, we’re only able to investigate murders,” he noted. “We’ll routinely respond to shootings, but if the person is going to survive, we are not going to follow up on that.”
In Los Angeles, LAPD Chief Michael Moore explained how the department had to shut down multiple specialized crime units due to an officer shortage the department was facing. “A number of our specialized units have been either disbanded or significantly downsized as a result of the reduction in our workforce,” Moore stated. “Areas that have been disbanded include our Hope Teams. These are our homeless outreach efforts that were occurring in each of the four geographic bureaus.”
The US is beginning to go through an undeniable phase of institutional collapse, where basic public services such as law enforcement cannot be relied on to protect communities. Indeed, law enforcement is not perfect. In fact, rational individuals can levy justified criticism of the Uvalde Police Department’s pathetic response to a mass shooter.
However, the “Defund the Police” and abolish the police crowd offer no meaningful alternative, much less a more privatized, free-market model, to the present policing model. Thanks to these anti-law enforcement groups and other movements hostile to the police, many police officers are no longer carrying out their duties out of fear of public outrage and potential legal punishment. Others are quitting their current police gigs or not even bothering to pursue careers in law enforcement.
Law enforcement will need to be reformed, but it must be protected at the same time. If these institutions fall abruptly, pure social chaos will ensue.
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