Officers have been bleeding since the shooting of Bryo Taylor at the Louisville Police Department, due to a federal investigation and a rising murder rate.
As Fox News reported, more than 230 cops have either retired, resigned or been fired since 2020 – a decrease of over 20 percent – and the department is struggling to reduce manpower losses with new recruits Used to be.
At the same time, fatal violence has steadily increased in Kentucky’s largest city, with 201 shootings so far this year compared to 109 at the same time last year, and in annual murders through April 25 75 percent increase, Police data show.
Two officers were shot in September after police were not indicated by a grand jury in Taylor’s murder.
“I would say we are under tense tension,” Dave Mutchler, the press secretary of the River City Fraternal Order of Police and spokesman for the police union, said according to the article.
“Our manpower is severely low,” Mutchler reportedly said. “One thing to consider when we are talking about being recruited is that in the current climate we find ourselves, the pool of people wanting to become officers is shrinking every day.”
According to the article, the 1,069-person department is now 225 people short of its target force size, and only 26 new recruits have been signed.
Of the 188 people who left the LMPD last year, a large majority – 118 – resigned, Fox reports.
“We are obviously losing a lot more officers than we are gaining. And if this continues, at what point can we not function appropriately? “Mutchler reportedly said.
Earlier this week, the Department of Justice announced whether the department routinely violates people’s constitutional rights after it shot and killed 26-year-old EMT Taylor during a drug raid.
No drugs were found during the March 13, 2020 incident where police opened fire on Taylor’s boyfriend after firing at them, mistaking them for intruders.
“[The investigation] It will determine whether the LMPD engages in unconstitutional stays, searches and seizures, as well as whether the department illegally executes warrants on private homes, ”Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Monday.
Prosecutors announced a similar investigation in Minneapolis in the wake of the shooting of George Floyd.
“It is clear that public officials in Minneapolis and Louisville, including law enforcement, recognize the importance and urgency of our efforts. We come to them as partners, knowing that we share a common purpose, ”said Garland.
Federal investigators may impose a consent decree; A court order that mandates police reform.
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