NC City Cuts Police Services as Officers Leave Department

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.