Peach Tree Times

With crime increasing in Georgia, the number of people willing to work as police officers is declining in the state, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“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 newspaper. His agency is short 122 officers, or 20% of the force, the story said.

Last year, 3,280 officers allowed their certifications to lapse or be removed, according to state data, the newspaper reported.

It's not a trend restricted to Atlanta. Police departments across the state have been facing greater staffing shortages than ever before. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that the pandemic and labor shortages are partly to blame, as well as a lower number of applicants.

Meanwhile, crime is up.

Between 2019 and 2020. the U.S. had a 30% increase in homicides, the largest jump in modern history, CNN reported. According to the FBI, 21,570 Americans were murdered in 2020, compared to 16,425 in 2019.

Only three states – Maine, New Mexico and Alaska – saw homicides decline in 2020, the story said.

In Georgia, the rate of violent crime rose to 400.1 incidents per 100,000 people in 2020, from 326.2 in 2019, according to the FBI. That represents a 22.7% increase. The number of homicides jumped by 35.2%.

Atlanta also saw increases in slayings, rape, aggravated assault and robbery in the first nine months of 2021, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Homicides went up by 20% during that time, rapes 60%, the association said.

The Atlanta City Council voted in June to increase the police department budget by 7%, the Washington Examiner reported.

“The rise in crime we’ve seen since the George Floyd death and the riots over the summer is astounding," Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute said recently in a segment of High Noon on the Independent Women's Forum website. "Last year we saw the largest percentage increase in homicides in this nation’s history and it’s gotten worse in 2021.”

Police retirements are also rising, MacDonald said.

In mid-2021, police retirements are up 45% by mid 2021 and resignations were up 18%, following increased scrutiny of police officers and the spread of "defund the police" initiatives, MacDonald told Fox News in July.

Police have also fallen victim to violence, with 75 ambush-style attacks on police officers in 2021, and 241 officers shot, and 44 killed, the National Fraternal Order of Police reported.