Recruiting Crisis: Police Department applications dwindle

Police departments in multiple states are having difficulty recruiting new officers as low numbers of applicants are looking to enter what could potentially be a dangerous line of work in an environment where leftists lawmakers and anti-police groups are on the rise.

The Blaze reports that recent increases in rioting and anti-police sentiment is making the once honored job less popular.

The Philadelphia Police Department has 268 vacancies with more anticipated in the future.

“From Jan. 1 through Thursday, 79 Philadelphia officers have been accepted into the city’s Deferred Retirement Option Program, meaning they intend to retire within four years, according to Mayor Jim Kenney’s office,” the Philadelphia Inquirer found. “During the same time period last year, just 13 officers had been accepted into the program, the office said.”

New Jersey is also seeing the issue, with recent police shootings being publicized so heavily hurting their numbers. President of New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association Pat Colligan said the state is in a “recruiting crisis.”

“Every action has a reaction. When you vilify every police officer for every bad police officer’s decision, [people] don’t want to take this job anymore,” Colligan said. “It’s been a very trying and difficult time to put on the badge every day.”

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