There has been a downtrend in recruitment for years.

Then how about redirecting funding from a smaller state police force towards mental health services & family welfare services... That was the original idea behind defunding the police... perhaps they will defund themselves?

They watered down the benefits.

Now do teachers and nurses.

Not surprising that numbers are continuing to follow the downwards trend. I'm sure 2020 was also a reckoning for a lot of local and state PDs. This is a natural consequence of them being held accountable.

Cops can't get away with as much as they used to. The nearly unlimited power and authority are what make a lot of people want to be cops.

Irresponsible headline

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This is second hand from troopers I know. There have been a lot of changes to the pensions and rules so a lot of guys are retiring early or not joining due to uncertainty

Not saying it's true, just providing word from the horses mouth.

Well if it isn't the consequences of our own hate campaign

> Hell, even legitimate shootings they get crap for.

Here me out here, a whole bunch less illegitimate shootings and people in general would be less likely to assume bad faith in the legitimate ones. Agree?

Pretty accurate. I think it’s a combination of factors. It was never an easy job to bring with, but there’s been an increase in negative attitudes pervasive in society towards the police and a decrease in things like benefits.

Fewer people applying and and decreasing standards are in no one’s best interest.

Lick the other boot, it tastes like strawberry.

Silly headline. Cops are much more of a danger to themselves than anything private citizens have to offer. Pretty safe profession if you count out the unvaxxed morons and the mentally ill.

Cops are quitting because they don’t want to follow the rules cops in other countries are held to, and it’s stressful to police a community that doesn’t trust you. The profession created this problem themselves with their blue wall bullshit. If they had been willing to root out the bad apples at any point instead of covering for each other like a bunch of catholic priests, their PR wouldn’t be so shit.

Some teachers hurt kids. I’m a teacher and condemn this, as do other teachers. It’s not that hard. It’s in my own best interest to weed out the bad ones.

Also, don't forget Baby Boomer retirements. This cliff has been well known for 20+ years.

Wow it's like maybe they should start doing something to fix an already shitty rep or something.. instead of expecting the public to just like deal with said shittiness.

Shocked electric squirrel face x2

Also first time I'm hearing about the Ohio thing.. must be huge news, depending on who is spining it for ya.

A job where people may try to kill you everyday. It’s a tough sell.

Edit. Imagine being downvoted for thinking cops have a scary job. What a vulgar take!!

you won’t get any traction here with that even thought we both know that that’s what anyone would get told by le average redditor if they wanted to become a cop

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What a dumb headline. A multi-year trend based on last week’s tragedy…? Clickbait.

>Also first time I'm hearing about the Ohio thing.. must be huge news, depending on who is spining it for ya.

It was national news for atleast a week. Even LeBron James was in hot water because he tweeted a picture of the officer, who was clear of all wrong doing for saving a woman’s life, and threatened him. How you missed it, is quite remarkable.

Why would anyone want to be? You're at risk of getting killed and dealing with the scumbags of society on a daily basis. Most people either hate you or are afraid of you. From what I can see the pay ends up somewhere in the high 70k range not worth it.

YOu don't need a college degree, you get a fat pension, you can retire after 20 and have a second career on top of that... It's a ticket to the upper middle class for people who would be retail or labor otherwise

Some people like being part of what is essentially a criminal racket with little accountability - even now - to the public and vast opportunities for corruption and grift (see: Frank Serpico’s commentary on this issue). It’s not actually all that dangerous to be a police officer overall either. And then you get a pension to boot.

According to domestic violence statistics, being a cop's wife is more dangerous job than being a cop.

It’s always the victim line with a police headline. MaYBe ItS RecEnT vIoLenCe? Yeah maybe it’s because you can’t escape being bombarded with videos of cops acting like assholes, abusing their power, getting arrested, assaulting people, etc etc etc and young people are finally seeing policing for what it really is instead of the TJ Hooker television version of it. Fewer young people want to be cops? Good.

But i thought they knew the dangers and did it anyway to protect us civilians or whatever.

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Can't blame them. Inmates are running the asylum.

Yet not even a top 10 most dangerous job.

*says the police and their unions.

Oh fuck yes right there.

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This has been trending for some time. Very cyclical. When private sector jobs are readily available it is harder to recruit officers. When that market gets difficult (very soon) you get plenty of applications. Yes the trend in decreasing benefits and pensions hurt a little but the pay is still very high.

The perceived lack of respect hurts as the people drawn to this type of work seek respect.

The overall economic disaster coming will bring plenty of applicants.

Working in retail is more dangerous

And they still get away with way too much shit. If a civilian job can't get away with it, neither should cops

You clearly know nothing about being a cop. Bot comment.

I'm guessing it's the violence against civilians that's the issue.