A new survey by the Police Executive Research Forum indicates that the number of sworn police officers among PERF members has increased for the first time since at least 2020.
The small increase comes after a large decline in the number of officers since the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd protests, which popularized the “Defund the Police” movement, with a peak of 6,492 officers resigning in 2022.
“I just think that the past four years have been particularly challenging for American policing,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of PERF, a nonprofit policing think tank based in Washington. “And our survey shows we’re finally starting to turn a corner.”
The survey noted that larger agencies are overrepresented in the survey, though those are also the ones facing the most significant hiring challenges.
Some
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