The Obama effect on undermining police authority, stature and morale is showing up in a big way.

https://www.washingtonpost.com...m_term=.e36a16ccd01c



Chuck Wexler talks to police chiefs frequently, as head of the Police Executive Research Forum think tank in Washington. Recently, he asked a roomful of chiefs to raise their hands if they wanted their children to follow them into a law enforcement career. Not one hand went up, he said.

Nationwide, interest in becoming a police officer is down significantly. In Nashville, job applications dropped from 4,700 in 2010 to 1,900 last year. In Seattle, applications have declined by nearly 50 percent in a department where the starting salary is $79,000. Even the FBI had a sharp drop, from 21,000 applications per year to 13,000 last year, before a new marketing campaign brought an upswing.

And retaining officers once they’ve joined is getting harder, too. In a PERF survey of nearly 400 police departments, 29 percent of those who left their police job voluntarily had been on the force less than a year, and an additional 40 percent had been on the job less than five years. At a PERF gathering in Washington on Tuesday of police chiefs and commanders from across the country, many attributed their declining numbers to a diminished perception of police in the years after the shooting and unrest in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014 and an increase in public and media scrutiny of police made possible by technology and social media.

“There’s an increased potential for officers to be criminally liable for making a good-faith mistake,” said Terry Sult, the police chief in Hampton, Va. “We’re seeing a lot more media coverage of officers being prosecuted, and that weighs heavily on a lot of officers' hearts. ... That’s a stressor on whether I want to stay in this position or not.”

Russ Hamill, an assistant chief of police in Montgomery County, Md., said he would prefer that his kids enter another profession — “even lawyers,” he said to big laughs. “It just has changed so dramatically,” Hamill said. “I see the treatment of our street officers out there. I think it’s time for somebody else to take the torch for a little bit.”


Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, met with police chiefs in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the declining interest in policing as a career. (Police Executive Research Forum)
It wasn’t all doom and gloom in the gathering of 250 law enforcement executives at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The police commanders traded ideas on how to recruit, and retain, quality police officers, including lowering the requirement of a college degree, relaxing rules on prior drug use and easing tattoo policies. Making departments more welcoming to minorities and women, in part by providing them with mentors and physical training, has enabled Tempe, Ariz., to maintain its recruitment numbers, Chief Sylvia Moir said.

The videos of police misconduct and fatal shootings have damaged the perception of American police officers but not irrevocably, said Antoinette Archer, director of human relations for the police department in Richmond Many people are “taken aback by the brutality, not by the profession,” she said. “If we can be inclusive” of women and people of color, “those individuals who can see a part of their fabric in the department will come forward. ... If the environment is not inclusive, you’re going to lose them.”

When Wexler asked the room if anyone had problems recruiting for diversity, every hand went up.

The trend toward fewer police officers per capita has been steady for 20 years, according to findings from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Although the U.S. population has risen from 267 million in 1997 to 323 million in 2016, the number of full-time sworn officers per 1,000 U.S. residents has dropped from 2.42 in 1997 to 2.17 officers per 1,000 residents in 2016. The raw number of sworn officers peaked at nearly 725,000 in 2013 and is now down to just more than 701,000. Houston Assistant Chief Lori Bender said Houston should have 2,000 more officers to efficiently handle its population.

Some of that is attributable to increases in police efficiency. Wexler theorized that some decline may be from the gradual retirements of the 100,000 officers hired nationwide as part of an initiative by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

I read these articles all the time and I have the same response.

Recruiting across the board is down thanks to all that is transpiring on the streets, the court rooms and also the politics involved.

All these Depts stress diversity recruiting and lower standards to get more recruits.

They do not realize that when they do that it affects another demographic of individuals who think about applying.

The recruit it affects is usually an individual that is squared away, gung ho, smart (college or street) and does not want to work with crap bags. So they pass on the job. I know many individuals who came out of the military and looked at LE and passed. Their response was, if I didn't want to work, deploy or be stationed with **itbags in the military why would I do it in civilian life.

I have re-considered many agencies that I would have applied with in the past because I have seen the type of recruits they are hiring.

Another thread was start regarding diversity and the meaning of it. There are no shortage of a certain type of applicant, but those applicants are always over looked because they do not fit the agenda.

It use to be that if you had too many speeding tickets or facial hair you couldn't get hired. Now they are allowing misdemeanor marijuana convictions and tattoos are fine too.

The majority of new officers in my jurisdiction are females. And tiny ones too. Regards 18DAI

And yet when I got out of the army as a patrol supervisor in the military police 6 years ago you’d think that you would have to bribe somebody to get a job. And it’s not because of my polygraph or work history or anything. Kept passing all the tests, did well in all the review boards. Just got passed up too many times so I took my happy ass to welding where any asshole can get a job. Maybe it’s time for me to get back into shape and try again

I will add that the job market is very good. Full-time, no higher education required jobs paying way over minimum wage and including good healthcare, -- I used to get 5 applicants for, I'm now lucky if I get one.

And it's spread to healthcare too, from EMTs to nursing. Applicants are hard to find and good ones are impossible to find.
Turnover rates are as high as I've seen it in four decades.

You should see what passes as emergency services in my county. Police, Fire and EMS are run pretty thin.
Good cops retire the day they are eligible and the new hires never make two years.
Nobody wants to put up with bullshit from all sides for piss poor pay.

Nobody wants to work for govt. The last 30-years have shown a wide variety of mismanagement, compounded by careerist bureaucrats who are favored over the rank n'file, regardless of the profession. City managers and clerks get paid as much if not more than your local LEO, despite never having to deal with the physical challenges and haywire work schedule.

Part of this problem lies in the Academies. There is little instruction or preparation about the actual reality of police work:
Dealing with the worst of society, day after day.
Dealing with all manner of death.
The increase of outright defiance, non compliance and disrespect that is common now.
Arresting seriously bad people to see them go unpunished.
High rates of depression, PTSD, divorce and suicide.
Being placed in what is called a "position of trust" but you have wear a body camera, since your version of events is widely distrusted.
The actions you take in the blink of an eye are debated, examined, and scrutinized for the slightest error, often months or years after the event.
Being portrayed in the media as violent, brutal, trigger happy, corrupt and racist.
Shift work that often interferes with a normal family life.
I recall that during my academy there was nothing mentioned about the conditions you would actually face on the street. I was told quite often that I would be "helping people". And you do. Every few years. Mostly you help them into the back of a patrol car. Over and over.
Its no wonder that lots of recruits bail after FTO. The reality gets to be a bit much.

Well if the pendulum is swinging one way, crime, corruption, and mismanagement will run cities into the ground; eventually it will swing back. However I suspect this may be 20 years from now.

Let the people protect themselves if they can, and if city and liberal mismanagement ruins things for a while, so be it. Perhaps bureaucrats will have to start treating police better and paying more as well.

Wow, this is such a surprise... NOT.

I'm amazed at how little the cops in our state's smaller cities get paid. It seems in some of the towns of less than 15,000 people, the pay is not very much above minimum wage. Whereas, The big cities in the state seem to have a cop union.

That said, in private industry, the solution to not enough applications coming in is to raise the pay level. Suddenly, you get more applications and better quality applicants.

Why would you want to work for people who hate you? All the suits in LE cover their own asses first. The public protests and riots. you can get the same or better money with two years plumbing training. Screw it.

quote:

Originally posted by mrapteam666:
I read these articles all the time and I have the same response.

Recruiting across the board is down thanks to all that is transpiring on the streets, the court rooms and also the politics involved.

All these Depts stress diversity recruiting and lower standards to get more recruits.

They do not realize that when they do that it affects another demographic of individuals who think about applying.

The recruit it affects is usually an individual that is squared away, gung ho, smart (college or street) and does not want to work with crap bags. So they pass on the job. I know many individuals who came out of the military and looked at LE and passed. Their response was, if I didn't want to work, deploy or be stationed with **itbags in the military why would I do it in civilian life.

I have re-considered many agencies that I would have applied with in the past because I have seen the type of recruits they are hiring.

Another thread was start regarding diversity and the meaning of it. There are no shortage of a certain type of applicant, but those applicants are always over looked because they do not fit the agenda.

A definite factor. I think that this view makes sense across most all fields of employment. I'm in education and it is simply not worth the dropping of standards to hire the incompetent. When we've held out and hired the best, everyones performance improves because competence becomes infused in the culture of the school/department. Additionally the competent is willing to carry more water and wait for the right person rather than settle for a Jack or Jill.

Silent

My very good friend sent me a text last week saying he is leaving LE. After 13 years.

I called him and he said it’s because he knows the boss doesn’t have his back. Each complaint is an IA, and he knows if he ever had to shoot someone he’d be throw under the bus, even if he did everything right.

The public attitude towards LE has changed since I was in it. With this environment the way it is and the administration in the departments also higher level government, there is no way I would get into it. I feel it will get worse before it gets better. If you second guess out in the street it could kill you, and that is what the current environment has created. Stay safe all of you on the line!

I have no horse in this race but all I can say this is a sad thread.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
I have no horse in this race but all I can say this is a sad thread.

It is isn't it.

Nobody should be surprised by this article. I have commented to friends that people would not want to be in law enforcement and have no support from higher ups.

A sad state of affairs that will hopefully cycle out.

If we could eliminate the current mainstream media many many issues in this country could be corrected. News reported with an agenda results in the destruction of all things good.
Add to that the local government beauracracies and things go to hell quickly.

It goes with the cyclical sentiment toward LE. Think 1880's and 1890's, 20's and 30's, 60's and 70's, etc. This cycle is prolonged partially thanks to Resident Zero and his bullshit rhetoric. Historically, the pendulum swings back when violent crime grows to the point that the media has to give it some attention. Since the media is more out of control than ever, I don't see that happening soon.