The risk of a serious police shortage in the US

(Illustration: Getty)

VTV.vn - The US is facing a serious shortage of police forces, while the crime situation in this country is warned to continue to increase in complexity.

Police departments across the United States are struggling with a recruitment and retention crisis.

The size of the police force in Washington, DC, has been reduced to its lowest level in half a century. A series of police recruitment applications are posted online, along with many incentives such as free training, rent assistance, and personal cars. However, recruiting more people is still not easy.

"Police forces across the country are short of people, not just in the capital," said Steve Nguyen, a Washington DC police officer. "Recruitment efforts are increasing, but getting students into schools is becoming increasingly difficult."

The same thing happened in the town of Goodhue, Minnesota, when the former police chief and five other employees resigned en masse, citing poor compensation.

(Photo: Getty)

“It all started when the town tried to hire full-time employees,” said Marty Kelly, Sheriff of Goodhue County, Minnesota. “We gave them a three-week notice and they haven’t come back. It’s scary because we don’t have replacements for those people.”

A survey of 182 police departments in 38 states and Washington, DC, found a dramatic decline in police forces, partly due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic downturn and concerns about the safety and well-being of police officers. A number of small towns have even been forced to disband their police departments.

"We have absolutely no police enforcement here," said Tara Marklevits, a resident of Goodhue, Minnesota. "Goodhue County has a police station in Red Wing, and they drive through our town and keep an eye on things."

A study of 200 police departments in the US in 2022 showed that the rate of police quitting increased by 47% compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak. Recently, the US Department of Justice had to propose a series of policy changes to find and retain police officers.

The US is taking a number of steps to make policing more attractive. Many places are offering free training to those who want to join the force or are expanding their recruitment pool. And raising salaries seems to be the most important solution to retaining police officers in the current context.

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