• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Subscribe
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Leadership
    • Go that extra mile with a smile
      Improving the promotional process for supervisors
      Developing an ethics-centered police department
      Leadership without the family factor is not leadership
      Prozac saved my career, and possibly my life
  • Topics
    • Leadership
      • Go that extra mile with a smile
        Improving the promotional process for supervisors
        Developing an ethics-centered police department
        Leadership without the family factor is not leadership
        Prozac saved my career, and possibly my life
    • Editor’s Picks
      • Getting ahead of the story
        A state in crisis
        Historic win for public servants
        California Highway Patrol officer saves pilot moments before explosion
        Combating false information on your agency’s social media
    • On the Job
      • No case too cold
        Summer is coming
        Securing the Texas border one K-9 team at a time
        Empowering through experience
        Philadelphia Amtrack officer’s quick actions saves conductor’s...
    • Labor
      • Insufficient police staffing continues throughout the U.S.
        The righteous battle
        Recruitment and retention
        Austin police chief aims to end officer shortage as recruitment...
        Dallas City Council approves increased hiring goal for police...
    • Tech
      • Telegram investigations
        Florida sheriff’s office deploys cutting-edge forensic tool to...
        A new chapter for Utah law enforcement
        Is AI the future of report writing?
        Interagency communication in the age of email, YouTube and Zoom
    • Training
      • Off duty, but never off guard
        Meeting training needs on a limited budget
        Be a thermostat, not a thermometer
        Duty knives: Practical or just “tacticool”
        Dry-fire practice doesn’t need to be boring
    • Policy
      • Michigan Supreme Court: Marijuana odor alone no longer justifies...
        Milwaukee P.D. and schools clash over SROs
        Seattle Police Department launches new plan to curb violent crime
        Buffer-zone law blocked in Louisiana
        Dakota’s Law: Pensions for police dogs?
    • Health/Wellness
      • Texas sheriff’s office hit with series of suicides
        The tyranny of memories
        “Why are you mad at me?”
        Tired of being tired?
        Keeping your relationship resilient
    • Community
      • Battle of the Badges baseball game to support injured Missouri officer
        Temple University Police celebrate 7-year-old’s support with...
        A local problem with a statewide solution
        From traffic stops to tip-offs: Iowa officer becomes basketball...
        A state in crisis
    • Offbeat
      • Not eggzactly a perfect heist
        Pizza … with a side of alligator?
        Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
        Only in California?
        Durango, Colorado, police hop into action after unusual 9-1-1 call
    • We Remember
      • Honoring Fallen Heroes
        What’s with the white chairs?
        The pain and sorrow of loss
        A cop and his car
        A dream of remembrance
    • HOT Mail
      • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • On the Job
    • No case too cold
      Summer is coming
      Securing the Texas border one K-9 team at a time
      Empowering through experience
      Philadelphia Amtrack officer’s quick actions saves conductor’s...
  • Labor
    • Insufficient police staffing continues throughout the U.S.
      The righteous battle
      Recruitment and retention
      Austin police chief aims to end officer shortage as recruitment...
      Dallas City Council approves increased hiring goal for police...
  • Tech
    • Telegram investigations
      Florida sheriff’s office deploys cutting-edge forensic tool to...
      A new chapter for Utah law enforcement
      Is AI the future of report writing?
      Interagency communication in the age of email, YouTube and Zoom
  • Training
    • Off duty, but never off guard
      Meeting training needs on a limited budget
      Be a thermostat, not a thermometer
      Duty knives: Practical or just “tacticool”
      Dry-fire practice doesn’t need to be boring
  • Policy
    • Michigan Supreme Court: Marijuana odor alone no longer justifies...
      Milwaukee P.D. and schools clash over SROs
      Seattle Police Department launches new plan to curb violent crime
      Buffer-zone law blocked in Louisiana
      Dakota’s Law: Pensions for police dogs?
  • Health/Wellness
    • Texas sheriff’s office hit with series of suicides
      The tyranny of memories
      “Why are you mad at me?”
      Tired of being tired?
      Keeping your relationship resilient
  • Community
    • Battle of the Badges baseball game to support injured Missouri officer
      Temple University Police celebrate 7-year-old’s support with...
      A local problem with a statewide solution
      From traffic stops to tip-offs: Iowa officer becomes basketball...
      A state in crisis
  • Offbeat
    • Not eggzactly a perfect heist
      Pizza … with a side of alligator?
      Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
      Only in California?
      Durango, Colorado, police hop into action after unusual 9-1-1 call
  • We Remember
    • Honoring Fallen Heroes
      What’s with the white chairs?
      The pain and sorrow of loss
      A cop and his car
      A dream of remembrance
  • HOT Mail
    • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
Search

On the Job

Small town police departments are struggling to recruit more officers to deal with crime

APB Team Published August 19, 2021 @ 12:50 pm PDT

iStock.com/mtnangel

Crime rates across the country have soared following big cities’ calls to defund the police. As a result, smaller cities are having to work overtime to recruit more officers to meet the needs of their community during the crime epidemic.

Roanoke City Police Department, for example, recently approved a budget increase this summer to retain and hire more officers after the city saw a nearly 400% increase in homicides this year, with its eighth murder occurring in July.

“The citizens tell me they want more officers in their community, in their localities,” Roanoke’s Mayor Sherman Lea said in June. “So we are looking at a lot of things.”

Roanoke Chief Howard Hall said that smaller cities are dealing with the aftermath of bigger cities’ decisions to cut police budgets last year following the death of George Floyd.

“This is going on everywhere. It’s going to take a long time to catch up in terms of where we are from a vacancies perspective,” he said.

According to a survey by the Police Executive Research Forum, there has been a 45% increase in retirements and a 20% increase in resignations from 2020-2021.

The calls by major departments in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles to cut budgets have spurred less populated areas to do the opposite.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is also working to fill its ranks after 93 officers left this year. The IMPD was given an additional $7 million to expand its recruiting efforts.

In Texas, police departments are combating a statewide officer shortage after it has become more difficult to sign officers due to stricter regulations.

“The problem has been just getting qualified applicants,” Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said. “You know, sometimes you can get applicants, but we do a pretty thorough background check, and sometimes applicants don’t make it through the background check. So the quality of applicants has certainly dropped off, as well as the quantity of them.”

According to KSAT, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is even offering signing bonuses to attract deputies. 

“We’re trying to hire, you know, just like every other law enforcement agency in the country right now. Manpower is an issue,” Sheriff Javier Salazar said.

Crime in Bexar County, where San Antonio is located, has worsened this year, with more child abuse and domestic violence cases.

“What we’re seeing now is we are seeing a slight uptick in violent crime. We’re seeing a lot more guns on the street. And so we just ask people to continue to call in activity and let us handle it as needed,” Salazar said.

Meanwhile, in the state of Massachusetts, officer recruitment is down 50% according to Major City Chiefs President Brian Kyes.

“It seems like this is the early phase, and certainly if two years ago was any indication, the numbers are down,” he said.

Even major cities are caving to community pressure and pushing back against the defunding narrative. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who vocally supported Black Lives Matter, has recently addressed the increase in crime by proposing budget increases and recruiting more officers to the force.

Last year’s budget cuts, which Bowser denounced, have left the department 200 officers short.

In Seattle, liberal Mayor Jenny Durkan is urging for more officers to stop the bleeding. Over the last year, the city has lost 250 police officers, or the equivalent of 300,000 service hours, Durkan said.

Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz echoed Durkan’s sentiment by calling for more support behind law enforcement. “I need more officers…making it clear to officers, current and prospective…that they will have our support, financially and otherwise, to do this job well and know they will not be laid off due to budget cuts.”

The Major Cities Chiefs Association found homicides are up by 30% in the first quarter of 2021 when compared to the same time period last year, with murders notably spiking in the five cities that cut police budgets last year: Austin, New York, Minneapolis, Seattle and Denver.

Categories: On the Job

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • Honoring Fallen Heroes
  • What’s with the white chairs?
  • The pain and sorrow of loss
  • A cop and his car
  • No case too cold
  • Texas sheriff’s office hit with series of suicides
  • Summer is coming
  • Off duty, but never off guard
  • The tyranny of memories
  • Insufficient police staffing continues throughout the U.S.

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

Getting ahead of the story

Getting ahead of the story

February 17, 2025

A state in crisis

A state in crisis

February 15, 2025

Historic win for public servants

Historic win for public servants

February 13, 2025

California Highway Patrol officer saves pilot moments...

California Highway Patrol officer saves pilot moments...

February 03, 2025

Policies | Consent Preferences | Copyright © 2025 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.