Police Officer Injuries Increase and Officer Numbers Decrease

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Many police officers are hanging up their hats and some major city police departments are faced with serious understaffing with no real end in sight. CNN has this story on the gross understaffing of the Capitol Police, “Capitol Police Union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou said in a statement Saturday that the Capitol Police is staffed below its authorized level by 233 officers and could face larger staffing shortages as officers retire in the coming years.” The Chairman goes on to explain this understaffing in only exacerbated by the injuries sustained by officers during the January 6th riot. The NY Times published this article about the riot at the Capital that resulted, “In one of the worst days of injuries for law enforcement in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At least 138 officers —73 from Capitol Police and 65 from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington — were injured.” These are horrifically high numbers, yet there is little discussion about how to proceed in such a manner that our officers who are there to serve and protect our communities are given the tools to succeed; whether that be training, more officers, and/or improved response. 

It hardly seems logical to scale back law enforcement and take funding from law enforcement agencies to place elsewhere where injuries are happening at these high numbers.  Fox News has this story from yesterday when a Delaware police officer was found unconscious at a residence in response to a call. “Police said Cpl. Keith Peacock suffered a traumatic head injury after he responded to a call shortly after 5 a.m. for a fight in progress at the Yorkshire Estates Community in Delmar.” Thie officer has served on the police force in Delaware for 22 years, so this is not a case of inexperience. In instances such as this one, it it would be a tragic mistake to send a social worker in to ‘de-escalate’ such situations. 

The Hill has this story on the officers injured in Sacramento, California during the April 18th riots. According to the Sacramento Police Department, “Several officers were hospitalized after being sprayed with a ‘liquid irritant’.” Police responded to riots in downtown Sacramento to keep the residents and business safe from harm, only to be attacked. Riots such as these and the ones that have taken place in NYC over the past year, have led to record numbers of officers leaving police departments. According to this story by Fox News, “The exodus — amid the pandemic, anti-cop hostility, riots, and a skyrocketing number of NYC shootings — saw 2,600 officers say goodbye to the job and another 2,746 file for retirement, a combined 5,346.” This is one of many cities that are seeing a dramatic increase in officers leaving the field.