A year after local protests against police marked a spike in officers quitting, the attrition rate among Asheville, NC, police continues to surge, setting off what the chief has called a crisis and leading to a recent announcement that officers would not respond in-person to some crimes.
Asheville Police Chief David Zack said delayed response times — for crimes, such as fraud and many thefts under $1,000 — and even more service cuts are likely as APD struggles to fill vacancies that now amount to 30% of the 238 sworn officer positions.
"This is what it looks like when you're down this much, when you lose 50% of your detectives," Zack told the three City Council members of the Public Safety Committee June 1.
According to recent figures obtained by the Citizen Times, the APD officer attrition rate, formerly one per month, jumped to 7.5 per month in the four months after local protests over the in-custody death of George Floyd.
