According to city data, there was a total of 12,258 sworn personnel as of June 2021, down from 13,218 two years ago.
The department says it fully expects to see some departures of personnel as a result of the mandate and is considering various options for how to adjust its response model through the transition.
Between January and June of 2021, Chicago police saw 363 officers leave the department. The losses include Chicago's Deputy Chief at the Bureau of Crime Control, at a time when police struggle to get crime under control with carjackings, shootings and murders all up.
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.
Ken Casaday, president of the Austin Police Association, says the first APD patrol unit assigned was at 5:47 a.m., and police arrived at the scene at 5:51 a.m., 16 minutes after the call came through.
Some of those injuries are physical, while others are mental, including post-traumatic stress following the police killing of George Floyd, the rioting, and torching of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct.
The officer shortage is most critical in cities that experienced waves of protests and riots in 2020.
“If an anti-police environment were driving separations, we would expect to see a large number of separations with years of service insufficient to retire,” Larry Hadfield, department spokesperson, said in an email. “So far, we have not seen that.”
On Thursday, Portland police reassigned sergeants and officers from three precincts "in an effort to reduce overtime costs."
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said 70 uniformed members of the NYPD and 28 civilians employees have tested positive for COVID-19. One person was released from the hospital Sunday while three remained hospitalized, according to Shea.
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