The police in Fort Worth, Texas have no shortage of humor. Last year, she created a parody video aimed at attracting new recruits. We see an officer in uniform who boasts, like a used car salesman, of the various vehicles in the fleet: “We have these patrol cars at your disposal”, he proclaims, pointing three models lined up in front of him. We also have, he points out, an armored vehicle “capable of surviving all shocks”, several types of motorcycles, horses and “for green friends”, bicycles. The message is clear: there are all kinds of possible careers in law enforcement.
In the United States, many of the 18,000 police agencies face serious staff shortages. Blame it on a massive wave of retirements, an increase in resignations and recruitment difficulties. In 2022, resignations increased by almost 50% and retirements by 20% compared to 2019, according to analysis by the Police Executive Research Forum. Result: in San Francisco (California), 600 positions are vacant, or 30% of the workforce. Phoenix (Arizona) has 500 to fill, and the number of “cops” in Washington is at its lowest level in half a century.
The Los Angeles police, which has lost 650 men in five years, had to reduce the teams of the narcotics services. That of Seattle has trimmed its department in charge of sex crimes. However, this labor shortage coincides with an increase in crime since the pandemic. In Washington, for example, more than 200 homicides have been recorded over the past two years, a record since 2003.
Risk of police violence
The reasons for this disaffection are manifold. The job of police officer is stressful, often badly paid, with thankless hours… But the current job market is full of more attractive job offers. The decline in vocations accelerated after the death of George Floyd, victim of a terrible police blunder in Minneapolis (Minnesota) in 2020. Since then, other highly publicized police violence has tarnished the image of law enforcement. , particularly among minorities and disadvantaged communities. This “leads many young people to have a different view of the police than their parents,” the International Association of Chiefs of Police noted in a report. And this perception “reduces the attractiveness of the profession”.
At the same time, several states have launched reforms to reduce the prison population and strengthen controls on the police, which until then were almost non-existent. Officers must wear cameras, follow guidelines on the use of force, and in some cities it’s now easier to discipline or fire them for misconduct. Disenchanted with the evolution of the profession, many change careers.
To encourage vocations, the governing bodies increased salaries and bonuses. Seattle is offering a $30,000 check to lure experienced pros. “It creates an aggressive one-upmanship between police departments, which is new,” comments Ian Adams, professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina. Elsewhere, hiring criteria are being relaxed. Some sporting events, including running, have been reduced. In Memphis, the obligation of university degrees is abolished: since 2018, we recruit at the baccalaureate level. In this Tennessee town in January, police beat, beat up with batons and tasered Tire Nichols, a 29-year-old black man they believe was guilty of a traffic violation. He died three days later. Four of the five police officers were “blues”, arrived in the profession since the reduction of the admission criteria. “The worrying thing is that police departments, under the strain of understaffing, are less likely to sanction their officers for misconduct,” continues Ian Adams. For this professor, one of the solutions would be for the federal government to finance, as in 1994, the recruitment of 100,000 agents. In the meantime, Fort Worth police received 300 applications after her video was released.