Department exodus articles

[Erick Gelhaus]

And while smaller departments don't show the same numbers, they're seeing the same impacts. Watch staffing fall to the point that you no longer have Day, Swing, & Grave shifts, instead it's 12-hour Days & Graves. Cut out some detective units and then don't maintain staffing in others. Just saw three guys bail from my old org - one (with a lot of potential will be selling real estate in TN) and two others left for agencies in ID and MT.

Even with getting some laterals in, the incoming numbers are not overtaking the losses.

[BehindBlueI's]

For the first time in living memory we are losing people to surrounding agencies. It has *always* flowed the other way, but now people will accept a $9k pay cut to be not here. Policies and outdated equipment are oft cited reasons. Our rookies are still in CVPIs...

Our policies aren't over restrictive, but we now have so much more documentation in place. You do a special report for a pursuit, another special report for a foot pursuit, another special report for a use of force, plus the actual report for the incident. Never has so little been measured so much, and it takes the street officer out of service for so long nobody wants to do proactive work because your beat partners will shit on you for having to take your mundane runs while you are out of service.

Plus our prosecutor sucks.

No way I'm starting over or taking that kind of pay cut, but I get why street guys with 3-7 years on would.

[Hambo]

Everything in this thread was predicted by esteemed LE/former LE members of this forum a couple of years ago. Turns out that our guys knew of what they spoke, to no real surprise.

The largest department in this county used to draw from the SO and smaller PDs. They pay very well, and have educational incentives and other perks. For years, they didn't hire anyone without prior training. Now they're willing to hire, then train recruits. This is about 400 sworn in a city where the crime rate is stupid low and citizen support is high. No BLM protests to speak of, no officers fired or indicted for OIS. If they have to change to get new hires, it's a fucking bad sign.

[HCM]

https://www.police1.com/police-recru...sENtHLZR0jkGlE

Illinois survey finds crisis in police recruitment and retention “We can only steal from each other for so long.”

QUALITATIVE COMMENTS

Here are a few of the comments from individual agencies about changes in applicants since 2015, the year after Ferguson:

“Fewer than 20% passed the background phase.”
“The quality is much poorer.”
“Our washout rate has flipped. We have gone from 20%-25% background failure to 70%-75% failure (criminal histories; significant application dishonesty)”
“Significantly decreasing. It is a crisis!”
“We are currently attempting to renew our two-year hire list. After nine weeks, we have received one application.”
“The more college graduates that apply, the less likely they are to want to work nights and weekends. They seem to think they are doing us a favor by wanting to work here.”
“I am starting a lateral eligibility list because our academies in Illinois have so much demand that it is impossible to get all of my recruits into the academies in a timely manner."
“We can only steal from each other for so long.”

[Vista461]

There are places in my county paying part timers close to or same as what I make as a Sergeant.
If I didn’t have such a great Chief, I’d leave too.
I work in a good area, but our small town politics and cutting budgets of our department, when everyone else is stepping up pay, are definitely not helping things. Especially when they say they aren’t defunding when they only cut our budget.

[DaBigBR]

All of these places are treating symptoms like causes. Staffing sucks because people are leaving. Crime is going up because staffing sucks. Etc.

How about people are leaving because they don't trust the cities they work for and the politicians and bureaucrats that run them. They don't want to deal with being vilified by the media over eight seconds worth of cell phone video and then not supported by the department or the city.

None of this is a mystery to anybody that is within a country mile of it. No amount of beards, tattoos, signing bonuses, or blind pride about the name on the side of the car fixes it.

[SoCalDep]

How about people are leaving because they don't trust the cities they work for and the politicians and bureaucrats that run them.

Look at that nail… it got hit right on the head.

People think I’m a bit nuts buying a house I’ve never seen in a state I’ve never set foot in. There is some work time left but the word refugee doesn’t sound so far from the truth. The eject handle is getting ready to be pulled… it’ll be ten-ish years early but that’s ok… We’ve planned for this and it’s gonna be rad. The exodus is real, it’s pervasive, and it’s going to ruin a lot of communities.

Sad thing is it’s exactly what those communities voted for.

[BehindBlueI's]

https://www.police1.com/police-recru...sENtHLZR0jkGlE

Illinois survey finds crisis in police recruitment and retention “We can only steal from each other for so long.”

On the topic of background failures, I've heard through Ye Olde Rumor Mill that the #1 thing kicking people out of the process now is *drum roll* ...... jerking off at work. Apparently the excuse given is 'stress relief' for the why of it. I'm not sure when they started asking about work-jerks, but apparently it's failing more people then drug use now.

[DaBigBR]

The other thing I've started to notice is an increase in relatively outspoken sheriffs. I think that's a function of not serving at the pleasure of a city manager or mayor coupled with some understanding that likely voters in sheriff's races, at least that do not coincide with major national elections are going to land a little more on the law and order side.

What seemed like it used to be just Joe Arpaio and maybe Grady Judd now includes a number of others. Even Alex Villanueva has had a lot to say about the challenges the cops face at the hands of the board of supervisors, city councils, and district attorney. It kind of reminds me of some of the revolt happening among some of the liberal media talking heads. A lot of the stuff Bill Maher says anymore is remarkably logical for a guy that you would have once thought was about as liberal as they come.

Strange times.

[HCM]

On the topic of background failures, I've heard through Ye Olde Rumor Mill that the #1 thing kicking people out of the process now is *drum roll* ...... jerking off at work. Apparently the excuse given is 'stress relief' for the why of it. I'm not sure when they started asking about work-jerks, but apparently it's failing more people then drug use now.

Who wants to work with a bunch of jerk offs?

Seriously, assuming this is on the polygraph? I could see asking about this as an impulse control issue.

This strikes me as something that either came from a psychologist or came from me disciplinary trend.