• 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
    • Liability — not always a showstopper!
      A candid chat with law enforcement Explorer scouts
      Do you know your emotional intelligence?
      Addressing racism in the workplace
      Supervisory actions: Deliberate style or weak skills?
  • Topics
    • Leadership
      • Liability — not always a showstopper!
        A candid chat with law enforcement Explorer scouts
        Do you know your emotional intelligence?
        Addressing racism in the workplace
        Supervisory actions: Deliberate style or weak skills?
    • Editor’s Picks
      • Police humor only a cop would understand
        Legacy never dies
        Mentorship: Ensuring future success
        Pink patches, powerful impact
        The future is here
    • On the Job
      • Legacy never dies
        Into the abyss
        A winding road
        Law enforcement responds to tragic Texas flooding
        I brought home a dog
    • Labor
      • Differentiation in police recruitment
        Building positive media relations
        LEO labor and community outreach — make the haters scoff
        Racing with a purpose
        Dallas Police Department drops college requirement for police...
    • Tech
      • Cutting-edge police technology
        One step closer
        New Jersey school district first to adopt AI gun detection and...
        Hawaii police harness virtual reality technology to train, secure and...
        The future is here
    • Training
      • Mentorship: Ensuring future success
        Unlocking innovation
        Training dipshittery
        Police Academy 20
        Using critical thinking to crack the case
    • Policy
      • Consolidation in action
        California lawmakers push mask ban for officers, raising safety...
        Proactive policing: What it is and how to do it
        California makes police misconduct records publicly available
        A bold idea for reducing homelessness in America
    • Health/Wellness
      • Pink patches, powerful impact
        Time and distance
        Meditation is hard because it’s not what you think
        Life off the clock
        Self-help for anxiety
    • Community
      • Community engagement: What is it moving forward?
        Contradictory crossroads
        Back-to-school season brings out police support nationwide
        A bold idea for reducing homelessness in America
        Operation Brain Freeze keeps community cool
    • Offbeat
      • Police humor only a cop would understand
        Not eggzactly a perfect heist
        Pizza … with a side of alligator?
        Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
        Only in California?
    • We Remember
      • York County ambush leaves three officers dead, others critically...
        Honoring the Fallen Heroes of 9/11
        Team Romeo
        National Police Week 2025
        Honoring Fallen Heroes
    • HOT Mail
      • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • On the Job
    • Legacy never dies
      Into the abyss
      A winding road
      Law enforcement responds to tragic Texas flooding
      I brought home a dog
  • Labor
    • Differentiation in police recruitment
      Building positive media relations
      LEO labor and community outreach — make the haters scoff
      Racing with a purpose
      Dallas Police Department drops college requirement for police...
  • Tech
    • Cutting-edge police technology
      One step closer
      New Jersey school district first to adopt AI gun detection and...
      Hawaii police harness virtual reality technology to train, secure and...
      The future is here
  • Training
    • Mentorship: Ensuring future success
      Unlocking innovation
      Training dipshittery
      Police Academy 20
      Using critical thinking to crack the case
  • Policy
    • Consolidation in action
      California lawmakers push mask ban for officers, raising safety...
      Proactive policing: What it is and how to do it
      California makes police misconduct records publicly available
      A bold idea for reducing homelessness in America
  • Health/Wellness
    • Pink patches, powerful impact
      Time and distance
      Meditation is hard because it’s not what you think
      Life off the clock
      Self-help for anxiety
  • Community
    • Community engagement: What is it moving forward?
      Contradictory crossroads
      Back-to-school season brings out police support nationwide
      A bold idea for reducing homelessness in America
      Operation Brain Freeze keeps community cool
  • Offbeat
    • Police humor only a cop would understand
      Not eggzactly a perfect heist
      Pizza … with a side of alligator?
      Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
      Only in California?
  • We Remember
    • York County ambush leaves three officers dead, others critically...
      Honoring the Fallen Heroes of 9/11
      Team Romeo
      National Police Week 2025
      Honoring Fallen Heroes
  • HOT Mail
    • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
Search

Labor

Police departments still shrinking despite failure to defund police, study finds

APB Team Published April 7, 2023 @ 6:00 am PDT

iStock.com/Douglas Rissing

A recently published criminology study has revealed that police departments nationwide are still shrinking, despite the failed attempt to defund traditional police in major cities following the George Floyd protests.

The study, which examined 14 large police departments, found that most have experienced an “excess” loss of sworn, full-time officers since 2020. The trend has been observed in large metro agencies like the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD).

In the last decade, NOPD has seen a significant reduction in its officer count, from 1,500 in 2010 to 944 in 2023, which is a decline of 20% since 2020 alone. Despite the department’s doubled recruitment efforts, its staffing levels continue to decline.

The shortage of police officers has had a significant impact on response times and crime levels, according to public safety consultant Jeff Asher.

“You’re seeing response times that have gone from an average of about 50 minutes for any type of call in 2019 to over two and a half hours last year,” Asher said. “And, so far, a little bit worse this year.”

This delay in response times is a matter of concern for the citizens of New Orleans, who have experienced an uptick in crime.

“Criminals know there’s not enough officers on the street! They know this!” Delores Montgomery, a ride-share driver, told NPR.

NOPD Captain Mike Glasser, president of the Police Association of New Orleans (PANO), attributes the dwindling staff to officer mistrust of leadership, financial incentives that have caused officers to retire early and intense pressure from other departments that have recruited NOPD officers to quieter jobs in the suburbs.

“We really have never retooled the department,” Glasser said. “There are some things that we should probably abbreviate — or eliminate, temporarily — in order to basically triage the crime problem.”

In order to meet the needs of the community, the department is outsourcing some of its jobs — such as responding to noninjury car accidents — to private contractors.

Ethan Cheramie, founder of a company called On Scene Services (OSS), said they employ unarmed, former police officers who go to the scenes of wrecks to take information and provide reports.

“Citizens still call 9-1-1, their call is still dispatched. However, it is dispatched to our agents. Our agents respond in a timely, efficient manner, to let everybody get on with their day,” Cheramie explained.

Cheramie said that due to the officer shortage, the city recently expanded the contract with OSS to employ a total of seven cars responding to accidents, which he estimates frees up 15 full-time officers for other duties.

“You’re going to continue to see alternative police response be divested from guys with guns over to civilians to respond to these nonviolent calls for service,” Cheramie added.

However, the NOPD’s pledge to hire 50 new civilians for traditional police jobs has been unsuccessful so far; the department has only made three hires since the announcement in September of last year.

The department has cited the multiple steps involved in hiring civilians and politics as factors that have complicated the process.

Additionally, the department has experienced command reshuffles, and the city’s mayor faces a possible recall election.

Glasser said consolidation of responsibilities is the best solution to the officer shortage, rather than just hiring more civilians.

“Should we civilianize some things? Probably so, we should. Other things, I’ve got to caution, that’s not a long-term, enduring philosophy,” Glasser said.

Nationally, more police departments are expressing interest in hiring civilians for various duties, but cities that have pledged to move in that direction, such as Baltimore, have experienced setbacks recruiting and hiring candidates.

Categories: Labor Tags: response time, New Orleans Police Department, defund police, civilian employees, Law Enforcement, crime, George Floyd, study, staffing shortages, recruitment

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Announces September 2025 Officers of the Month
  • Community engagement: What is it moving forward?
  • Liability — not always a showstopper!
  • Police humor only a cop would understand
  • Contradictory crossroads
  • Cutting-edge police technology
  • Legacy never dies
  • One step closer
  • Mentorship: Ensuring future success
  • Differentiation in police recruitment

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

Police humor only a cop would understand

Police humor only a cop would understand

October 25, 2025

Legacy never dies

Legacy never dies

October 22, 2025

Mentorship: Ensuring future success

Mentorship: Ensuring future success

October 20, 2025

Pink patches, powerful impact

Pink patches, powerful impact

October 11, 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.