Cities across the United States are having trouble recruiting police officers, despite offering generous salaries, bonuses, and benefits packages. This comes after three years of progressive criminal justice reforms following the death of George Floyd in 2020, adopted in response to outcry from activists and compliant voices in the private sector over allegations of systemic racism and brutality in the country’s police departments.
The reforms were accompanied by a heightened level of scrutiny regarding law enforcement from both municipalities and the media, which some commentators claim has acted as a deterrent for young people when choosing a career path.
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As a result, city police departments are experiencing record lows. San Francisco’s police academy only saw 26 people graduate in 2023, the lowest number in at least ten years and less than a third of 2019’s total. US police departments saw a 5 percent drop in employees between January 2020 and January 2023, according to the Police Executive Research Forum. Resignations shot up by 47 percent in 2022 compared to 2019; retirements rose by 19 percent.
Yet the perks are better than ever. This month, San Francisco raised its starting salary for officers with no prior experience to $112,398. Alameda, a city south of Oakland, CA, offers $113,654 a year as well as a $75,000 sign-on bonus. Dallas’ police department has paid for billboards in Chicago, trying to convince officers to relocate. Ithaca, NY offers $20,000 signing bonuses for cops with experience, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just signed a bill to introduce $5,000 bonuses for officers who make the move to his state.
“These bonuses sound more like sports teams than a civil service position,” said Chuck Wexler, director of the Police Executive Research Forum. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It feels like desperation.”
In the past two years, twelve cities have disbanded their police departments.
Some may argue that quality should be promoted over quantity. But Brian Struhl, the executive director of the Crime and Justice Policy Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, says police force numbers play a significant role in reducing violent crime. Complex methods that reduce such violence are shelved when employment is low, as all resources and personnel are directed toward pressing emergencies. “Without police in the first place, it’s really hard for police to be strategic,” Struhl said.
The police force of Oakland, California has shrunk by 5 percent since 2019, and now its 911 response times are reaching 45 minutes or longer.
Some say the solution cannot lie in salaries or benefits: the progressive reforms themselves need to be undone to make the job more palatable.
“They’re just throwing money at the problem,” said Barry Donelan, the leader of a police union in Oakland. “When you talk about $50,000, $75,000 they become mercenaries. You think that officer really wants to put roots down?”
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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