Part of the problem is the militarization of the police force. This has been happening for decades. I’ve often thought military style training and equipment makes the people look like the enemy in the eyes of cops. When police show up to a domestic disturbance in tactical gear and armored vehicles it’s hard to trust their there to keep the peace. Overzealous policing lead to preventable very public deaths as in Minneapolis with George Floyd.
An over reaction by the public spurned by hyperbolic movements like Black Lives Matter have turned the tables. Cops are leaving the police force in droves.
A 2021 survey showed that police departments nationwide saw resignations jump by 18 percent—and retirements by 45 percent—over the previous year, with hiring decreasing by five percent. The Los Angeles Police Department has been losing 50 officers a month to retirement, more than the city can replace with recruits. Oakland lost about seven per month in 2021, with the number of officers sinking below the city’s legally mandated minimum.
The list goes on: Chicago has lost more cops than it has in two decades. New Orleans is backfilling its shortfall of officers with civilians. New York is losing more police officers than it has since such figures began being recorded. Minneapolis and Baltimore have similar stories. St. Louis—one of the most dangerous cities in America—has lost so many cops that there’s a seven-foot-tall, 10-foot-wide pile of uniforms from outgoing officers at police headquarters called “Mount Exodus.”
And in San Francisco, just across the bay from Richmond, the police department has seen 50 officers out of a force of fewer than 2,000 take off for smaller, suburban departments, according to Lieutenant Tracy McCray, the head of the city’s police union.
Americas Police Exodus – The Free Press