Police departments facing critical shortages

( NewsNation ) — An officer shortage is affecting departments all across the country, with many unable to retain or hire new officers.

In Cleveland, there are more than 300 openings that need to be filled. Seattle Police Department has lost more than 700 officers in the past four years.

The Minneapolis Police Department is down more than 800 officers since before the pandemic. In Indianapolis, the police chief says his department is operating with the smallest force in history.

“They have been dehumanized, demoralized, and really driven out of the profession, or at least the major cities of our nation, which is the folks that it impacts the most and that it’s the worst for, are the very residents that we serve and protect,” Rick Snyder, president of the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police, told NewsNation.

According to the latest crime stats from the FBI, murder, rape, aggravated assault and burglary have all decreased. The only major crime that has increased is car theft , up nearly 13%.

Last week, the Long Beach Police Department announced officers would no longer respond to minor traffic collisions due to staff shortages.

The department told Long Beach Post the change would “help alleviate the current workload in patrol” and allow officers to “prioritize responding to priority one emergency calls for service, which improves our overall response efficiency.”

It is a one-year pilot alteration, with the hope that officers will be able to focus on attending violent or more serious crimes.

Cleveland’s WJW reported last month that 35 people were hired to be Cleveland police officers despite several hundred applications.

Notwithstanding pay rises, 92 officers reportedly left the force through 2024. WJW said the number of hirings was low due to applications skipping civil service or physical tests, or failing one of the background checks, medical, psychological or physical tests.

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