The anti-police climate across the country is affecting police departments, with morale at an all-time low.
According to The Daily Caller, police officers stated that the fear of legal and political backlash, similar to those experienced in Ferguson, New York and Baltimore, is hurting morale. This has also caused officers to step back from engaging in proactive policing, because they are seeing the violent criminals they arrest almost immediately returned to the streets.
Chuck Canterbury, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, expressed his concern over the shortage of officers. “For the last six or eight years, proactive law enforcement has come to a stop because of shortage of personnel,” he said.
Several police and private security officers are surprised by how young some of the protesters have been at recent riots. They have also expressed being disheartened by the objects thrown at them and their police cruisers, such as bottles and trash.
Individuals who attended Police Week in Baltimore this week expressed doubt that the charges state attorney Marilyn Mosby slapped on six officers for the death of Freddie Gray would result in a guilty verdict. Police officers have admitted to feeling dejected since the riots related to Gray’s death and the indictment of their fellow officers.
A shift commander, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “I’m hearing it from guys who were go-getters, who would go out here and get the guns and the bad guys and the drugs. They’re hands-off now. I’ve never seen so many dejected faces.”
A recently retired police officer told The Daily Caller that people do not seem to understand that cops do not get up in the morning thinking about who they want to hurt that day. “Morale is low because we don’t have the public’s backing,” she said, noting that the same people who verbally or even physically attack police officers are the same ones who call them for help. “I pulled a guy over, recently. He was a drunk driver. He said, ‘F*** you, I hate cops.’”
A law enforcement source indicated that some attendees are threatening to turn their backs on President Barack Obama at the annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service at the Capitol, due to comments he had made in the past that many in the police community found offensive.
But Canterbury said he does not think most police officers in attendance will do so. “This event is not to honor the President of the United States. It’s to honor the officers who have been slain in the line of duty,” he said. “And I think the vast majority of police officers in attendance understand that the National Police Officers Memorial Service is to honor those in our brotherhood that have passed away and that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. No, we don’t anticipate that happening.”
Police morale at an all-time low across the country
The anti-police climate across the country is affecting police departments, with morale at an all-time low.
According to The Daily Caller, police officers stated that the fear of legal and political backlash, similar to those experienced in Ferguson, New York and Baltimore, is hurting morale. This has also caused officers to step back from engaging in proactive policing, because they are seeing the violent criminals they arrest almost immediately returned to the streets.
Chuck Canterbury, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, expressed his concern over the shortage of officers. “For the last six or eight years, proactive law enforcement has come to a stop because of shortage of personnel,” he said.
Several police and private security officers are surprised by how young some of the protesters have been at recent riots. They have also expressed being disheartened by the objects thrown at them and their police cruisers, such as bottles and trash.
Individuals who attended Police Week in Baltimore this week expressed doubt that the charges state attorney Marilyn Mosby slapped on six officers for the death of Freddie Gray would result in a guilty verdict. Police officers have admitted to feeling dejected since the riots related to Gray’s death and the indictment of their fellow officers.
A shift commander, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “I’m hearing it from guys who were go-getters, who would go out here and get the guns and the bad guys and the drugs. They’re hands-off now. I’ve never seen so many dejected faces.”
A recently retired police officer told The Daily Caller that people do not seem to understand that cops do not get up in the morning thinking about who they want to hurt that day. “Morale is low because we don’t have the public’s backing,” she said, noting that the same people who verbally or even physically attack police officers are the same ones who call them for help. “I pulled a guy over, recently. He was a drunk driver. He said, ‘F*** you, I hate cops.’”
A law enforcement source indicated that some attendees are threatening to turn their backs on President Barack Obama at the annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service at the Capitol, due to comments he had made in the past that many in the police community found offensive.
But Canterbury said he does not think most police officers in attendance will do so. “This event is not to honor the President of the United States. It’s to honor the officers who have been slain in the line of duty,” he said. “And I think the vast majority of police officers in attendance understand that the National Police Officers Memorial Service is to honor those in our brotherhood that have passed away and that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. No, we don’t anticipate that happening.”
