Ask kids what they want to be when they grow up and police officer is often among the most frequently cited jobs. When it comes time to putting pen to paper and filling out a job application, however, many pass. Indeed, some 66 percent of police departments are reporting that applications for police officer vacancies have dropped, making it more difficult to attract talent.
During the Great Recession, when jobs were scarce, quite a number of people were applying to be police officers. Take Nashville, for example: the city received 4,700 applications in 2010. Last year? Just 1,900. Or how about Seattle? The Pacific Northwestern city offers a starting salary of $79,000, well above the national average. Regardless, applications have dropped by 50 percent.
Even the FBI, arguably the most prestigious law enforcement agency in the United States, saw its applications drop from 21,000 per year to just 13,000 per year. The drop in applications is making it difficult for police forces to fill their ranks. This could lead to officers working longer shifts and communities suffering from decreased policing services.
Police departments aren’t just struggling to attract talent either. Retaining the talent already on staff is becoming a major issue as well. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) conducted a survey of 400 police departments and found that 29 percent of those who voluntarily left their job did so within just one year of joining the force. Another 40 percent left their job within just five years.
Unsurprisingly, police per capita steadily declined over the years. In 1997, there were 2.42 police per 1,000 people. As of 2016, levels had dropped to 2.17 per 1,000 people. Given the continued struggles to attract and retain talent, that number has almost certainly dropped since.
So why are so many people eschewing police work or quitting the force? That’s subject to speculation but most likely multiple factors are at play. For one, police work is often low-paid given the level of responsibility and danger.
According to the Department of Labor, police nation-wide enjoy a median pay of $62,000. This doesn’t sound so bad on the face of it, but police officers in many areas are earning just $30,000 to $40,000 per year. Mind you, police officers are often expected to work long hours, typically on erratic shifts, and have a stressful job, to say the least.
Further, police officers are increasingly being exposed to a number of risks and liabilities as well. With just about everyone having a camera in their pocket, police are under near-constant surveillance. Police must assume that every stop and every situation is now being recorded. When this leads to corrupt or abusive officers being outed, that’s obviously great news. Still, even honest cops may be worried about monitoring.
Meanwhile, police work has lost much of its prestige. Many Americans simply don’t trust police either. In fact, Gallup found that in 2017, just 57 percent of Americans express a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the police. For officers, it’s fair to question if working is worth all the distrust.
So what’s behind the low levels of trust? Among other things, several high-profile incidents have painted the police in a bad light. The shooting of Michael Brown, the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, and the shooting of Daniel Shaver while he laid on the ground, among several other incidents, have damaged the overall reputation for police forces. Quite likely, these incidents are fueling distrust of police.
