HELP WANTED: 86% OF POLICE DEPARTMENTS ARE EXPERIENCING AN OFFICER SHORTAGE
Law Enforcement Specialist // heads up the School of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Strategic Studies at Tarleton State University in Fort Worth. He helps train the next generation of cops DR. ALEX DEL CARMEN

Police departments across the country are dealing with a shortage of officers. The National Police Foundation reports 86% of the departments nationwide are experiencing a shortage. It was already an issue, but the events so far in 2020 have the situation worse. Before this year, hiring for officers was on a five-year decline. "It's a hard time being a police officer," said Dean Esserman. Esserman was the former police chief in several cities in the northeast, and now works with the National Police Foundation. He said two big factors are causing the shortage: Municipalities are facing budget cuts due to the coronavirus and police morale is down due to the protests. "I think it seems that there's no middle ground today. One has to be on one team or the other," Esserman said. Another factor is that police chiefs and supervisors are not staying on the job as long anymore. Esserman said that creates a big divide in community policing, which agencies have been doing for decades.
The number of open positions are astounding. Veteran cops are retiring and there simply aren't enough rookies coming in. The number of open positions are astounding. Veteran cops are retiring and there simply aren't enough rookies coming in. Can you blame cops for calling it quits? The average police salary in America is just $54,000. Is that enough money for someone who's paid to put their life on the line? To put it into perspective, you can make more than three times that managing a Walmart. Are all the calls for defunding police departments and the nonstop second-guessing of cops causing young people to cross law enforcement off their career list? What needs to be done to turn things around?