Not even the fantastical, twisted literary worlds invented by Lewis Carroll aka Charles Dodgson prepared me for the rabbit hole the Democrats opened on Sunday with their strident claim that the policing crisis unfolding in Democrat controlled cities is the fault of Republicans. Yep. The Democrats who have been championing “Defund” the police since George Floyd died of a fentanyl overdose last year are now having second thoughts as murders and gun violence become a common experience in the predominantly black neighborhoods comprising New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Atlanta.
In tandem with the explosion of violence that was detonated by Democrat leaders denouncing the police as fascist thugs, senior police officers are voting with their feet and saying good-bye to the job.
The Police Executive Research Forum is out with an important new study documenting the exodus. Here are the key findings:
- On average, agencies are currently filling only 93% of the authorized number of positions available.
- Among the responding agencies as a whole, fewer new officers were hired, and resignations and retirements increased in the 2020-2021 period, compared to the previous year.
- HIRING: The reduction in hiring was relatively modest, with a 5% overall decrease in the hiring rate among responding departments. Smaller agencies actually saw an increase in hiring, while larger departments experienced dramatic reductions.
- RESIGNATIONS: Increases in resignations were more significant. Agencies reported an overall 18% increase in the resignation rate in 2020-21, compared to 2019-20.
- RETIREMENTS: Increases in retirements were even larger. Among all responding police departments, there was a 45% increase in the retirement rate. (In small departments, a small number of retirements may result in a high percentage increase in the retirement rate. But even in the largest agencies, with 500 or more officers, the retirement rate increased by 27%.)
The survey does not mention specific cities, but you need only look at the responses to appreciate that the police departments in the large urban areas are bailing out at an unprecedented rate. The situation is made worse because the police in those big cities are having trouble recruiting new officers.
George Floyd has been sober for 14 months.
Good point. Intelligent observation.
If you are a young white man you would have to be insane to consider joining the Police Force in a large metropolitan area controlled by the Democrats. Especially, in this red-hot job market.
All is proceeding to plan. The call for Federal help was already sent by the mayor of Chicago, who is systematically destroying policing in the city. I look forward to seeing the incorporation of BLM/Antifa style “community” social justice groups into police forces in either official or affiliate roles with full powers and immunity. Weimar Republic police force 2.0 is on track.
Fred, can you explain your reference to the Weimar Republic police force? After the German people suffered wartime starvation, military defeat, economic collapse and moral breakdown following WWI, what exactly did the cops do or not do to make a bad situation even worse?
Incorporation of militia groups supporting your party, groups which spent months in disrupting civil society, into the government you only tentatively control after a very narrow election victory.
What’s just as bad is that I’ve noticed in my city in the midwest, some of the cops who DO chose to stay on are often reluctant to actually do the job of policing. They’ve been cowed by the unfair demonization of law enforcement; exploited by bullying extortionists who extract huge sums from local treasuries in wrongful death settlements, almost always for perps who’ve died while violently resisting arrest, etc. In the last few years I’ve noticed increased hazardous driving conditions that are likely at least partially enabled by the now-routine reluctance of police to deal with traffic offenders. Drivers speed with abandon. But who of us would have the guts to approach the vehicle of a suspect or reckless driver, knowing the chance of being murdered while doing so?
The huge costs associated with law enforcement are MAJOR burdens for cities. It’s no wonder some politicians foolishly regard reducing those costs as a way to make their jobs easier. But we end up paying one way or the other. In spite of what I’ve written we still have pretty good policing where I live, for which I’m very grateful. If the MSM ever decided to actually do their jobs, there could and should be a daily drumbeat of reports of how “progressives” and their irresponsible governance are turning some major cities into crime-ridden shitholes.
Not on the topic of the police, but on a topic you have spoken about in the past:
NSA politically-motivated spying on U.S. citizens:
https://technofog.substack.com/p/that-strange-nsa-non-denial
“Yesterday, Tucker announced that the National Security Agency had been collecting his communications in order to take him off the air. He has now provided a brief update.”
That link embeds a five-minute Tucker monologue that is quite remarkable, which does not (yet) seem to be available at YouTube.
If you have concerns about NSA politically-motivated spying, that is well worth watching.
I should have added to the above a link to this related Sundance column, which makes some absolutely scorching points:
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/06/30/nsa-responds-to-tucker-carlson-claim-of-surveillance-the-generic-and-very-political-non-denial-should-alarm-everyone/
E.g.,
“The Intelligence Branch of government is [now] a public-private partnership that includes governmental agencies and private sector technology groups, Big Tech.
…
The IC Branch is a partnership between the U.S. government and the private sector; that is why various elements within the Intelligence Branch use ‘contractors‘. ”
“
Keith, Harbaugh,
Yes, I read that post from Sundance with interest, and noted his advisement that he is working up another of his characteristically deep and far-ranging analyses of the issues that these developments raise.
A while back, Col. Lang ventured that the observable facts and circumstances of our societal arc were overall pretty consistent with the initiation of fascism in Mussolini’s mold; i.e., the merger of the State and Corporations, with hoi polloi reduced to existence under their less than benevolent rule. Sundance’s formulation seems increasingly to have twigged to this insight, coming to this conclusion from his own observations and researches.
This is due to the fundamentally conservative view of human nature that underlies both of these analyses. The elites’ attempt, yet again, to erect their favored “one size fits all” Luciferian Tower of Babel in order that they may be as gods stands revealed for what it is.
Nothing new. Been going on for a long time. Read the Church commission report from the mid-70s. Why have both Republicans and Democrats supported the growth of this “4th branch of government”?
What did Sundance’s cult leader POTUS Trump do about any of this?
What did Trump’s opponents do?
Knocked him out of the ring. KO!
Blue,
Guess that solves your problem.
Fred,
Trump sold Drain the Swamp. When he got the brass ring he folded like a cheap suit.
Sundance is a Trump cultist. He rails against Barr, Wray, etc. When folks point out that Trump hired these people, he says “woe is me” he couldn’t get anyone past the Senate. If Trump had the competence and guts he would have used the powers of his office. He didn’t!
Politics is a blood sport. If he had any real intention of Draining the Swamp he would have acted with the knowledge that the Swamp would resist. He proved to be weak.
BP is spot on. Trump got KO’d. In the first round.
Sam,
!Jeb! would’a done better. Or little Marco, or Mitten’s or take your pick.
“Politics is a blood sport.”
Oh, is that what it is? Obama’s way is the right way, constitution be damned!
Deplatformed him.
The social media giants are a curse.
Social media are about social engineering.
Fred
Trump was POTUS. How did he Drain the Swamp?
If you are young, idealistic, and thinking of becoming a first time cop because you think you can do some good, you might apply for a police job in a big Democrat run city with a sizeable black population. But if you’re an experienced officer who in past times might switch from one metro PD to another, you’re much less likely to now, when considering the fact that if you attempt to apprehend a black motorist for anything, and he violently resists, you face serious allegations which are likely to be unquestionably believed by the ruling Nomenklatura of that metro area and you may find yourself held without bond and facing a long prison term following a Kangaroo Court trial where the verdict comes before the trial. The object lesson of Derek Chauvin should serve as a warning to anyone considering employment with any PD in such a city.
Ex Baltimore cop Michael Wood is in favour of some police reform and I think he knows what he is talking about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf7ryvcDvOE
Wood believes that a large part of the problem is that police are scared because they are poorly trained. He says that the cops who have served in the military are much better cops because they have the confidence that comes from extensive training and experience.
I put this out there:
I once had a soldier explain the difference between soldiers and police.
Let’s imagine there’s a sniper somewhere.
The police’s answer is to cordon off the area, try and talk the sniper down; take as much time as possible to end it as peaceable as possible
The soldier’s response is to put a couple of artillery rounds into the sniper position and move on.
Sound right to you ex-soldiers and ex-police?
PA
It does to me.
Well, that’s a very interesting interview. Michael Wood is/was clearly a good police officer, and I hear what he’s saying. And Baltimore is/was a tough assignment.
BUT – I’m going to disagree with the idea that military service is good training to be a municipal police officer. People differ, and this is a generalization – but to be a good municipal officer, at least here in Ontario, Canada, is not a matter of knowing how to shoot a firearm, how to wear a uniform, or how to follow orders. An Ontario officer might draw his firearm once a year, shoot once a career. He must be in good condition, and military service qualifies for that. Much of the job is not following orders, but rather figuring out the broader mission (keep the peace, aka law and order with the emphasis on order), and act most of the time independently (not wait for or follow orders) as suitable.
Just to be troublesome — I like Joe Rogan, but watching this video I was really struck by the contrast between the bulshit generalities vs the reality of Wood’s speech. Despite the heavy editing and rearrangement of Wood’s video. JoeR went down a bit in my ranking. He could have done a better job in this show.
Your generalities good, Joe Rogan’s bad. From the news below the boarder you police are very good at following orders to arrest lockdown violators, no idea what orders they do follow though.
Baltimore, infamous for being the locale
of the hit TV-show The Wire.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0306414/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
Here is what one small, coastal California city pays its police officers where most of the crime is dealing with vagrants, drugs, alcohol and gangs. Over and over again. It too is a defund the police town and plenty of people with ACAB, attitudes but are usually too lazy to get organized to do anything:
Total compensation packages for 2019:
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?a=santa-barbara&q=police&y=2019