Large numbers of police are leaving their jobs thanks to the Biden administration’s “politicization of law enforcement.”
Brian Lande, an officer in the Richmond, California, police department, shared why he had to leave the force because of the Left’s “defund the police” movement.
In 2015, Landehe had to draw his gun to stop a fight between two more drunk men. One was armed with a hatchet, while the other one had a wrench. On another occasion, he threatened to use deadly force to arrest a man who was hopping a backyard fence, fleeing the scene of a burglary.
When asked how frequently he had to remove his gun—a normal Glock 17—from its holster, Lande replied, “They all bleed into each other.”
Luckily, he’s never had to pull the trigger. But things could have easily gone wrong. A suspect would have had less than a quarter of a second to decide whether to kill another person if he had made a suspicious movement or taken anything that appeared to be a pistol out of his pocket.
“You’re in an incredibly inauspicious situation,” Lande said. “The chance of making a good faith mistake is high.”
However, an increasing percentage of police officers nowadays aren’t so certain about making life-saving decisions. Lande later began to consider leaving his dream position early last year.
A 2021 survey showed that police departments across the country saw resignations jump by 18 percent and retirements by 45 percent over the previous year, with hiring decreasing by five percent.
"A big part of what’s prompting police to leave America’s big cities is the perception the public has turned against them…only seven percent of police officers would advise their kids to go into law enforcement." https://t.co/rdfLzOtiRP
— Rob Henderson (@robkhenderson) January 20, 2023
According to Lieutenant Tracy McCray, the leader of San Francisco’s police union, 50 of the police force’s less than 2,000 officers in the city have left for smaller, suburban agencies.
“That was a lot of talent for us,” McCray said. “They were great, bright new cops. A couple of them were born and raised in the city.”
A 2020 poll revealed that only seven percent of police officers would urge their children to pursue a career in law enforcement, while 83 percent showed a “lack of respect for the profession.”
“Suddenly, everyone is telling us how to do our jobs. They’re saying we’re biased, racist, only want to hurt black and brown communities,” said McCray, who is black. “These officers worked in these communities, were invested in these communities. Suddenly, people who don’t know us are saying you’re this, you’re that.”
