ATL Standard

As law enforcement staffing shortages continue to be an area of concern in every US state, increasing crime levels have been a problematic result. In Atlanta, Mayor Andre Dickens has vowed to recruit and hire at least 250 officers this year.

Across the U.S., violent crime – which includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – increased by 4.6% from 2019 to 2020, reaching rate of 398.5 crimes per 100,000 people in 2020, according to data from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. 2020 was the last full year for which data are available from the FBI. In Georgia, violent crime went up by 22.7% to 400.1 people per 100,000 between 2019 and 2020, a sharper increase than the national average.

"A shortage of police officers across Georgia has shaken public confidence as violent crime rates have spiked," The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported on its Twitter account in December 2021. "Staffing has dropped as law enforcement agencies have recorded more retirements and resignations and fewer new recruits."

Police departments around the U.S. are having a hard time keeping officers and finding new recruits. Some attribute this to how the public views police officers, as a result of controversy surrounding the use of force by police.

"Knowing that you might not have a partner to respond fast because of the low number of officers right now at departments is one of my fears" a new police recruit told Fox News. 

As morale has decreased in a number of law enforcement departments, big U.S. municipalities have seen a significant uptick in officer retirements. In 2021, the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, the state's law enforcement certification agency, said 1,105 police officers retired, the largest number in the past six years.

"I’ve been in law enforcement 31 years, and I’ve never seen this many people leave the profession altogether,” Chatham County Police Chief Jeffrey M. Hadley told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Other officials echoed these concerns. 

“Police departments across the country are fighting to contain this increase in violent crime but they are understaffed, under-resourced and struggling to hire and retain good, qualified officers," said Andy Edmiston, director of government affairs for the National Association of Police Organizations, according to AZ Big Media. 

In late 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the murder rate in the U.S. went up by 30% between 2019 and 2020, making it the biggest single year increase since at least 1905. In response, the Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods Act of 2021 was enacted to provide funding to local police agencies and give departments the ability to hire and retain police officers, while providing necessary training and equipment. Police staffing shortages have been a significant issue for the Georgia police departments since early 2021.

Despite the promise to hire new officers, the Atlanta department has seen hiring delays as a result of instructor shortages.