The Travails of the Police

Police officers around the country have never been 

so vilified, so hated, so abused in years past as they

are these days. Radical groups such as Black Lives 

Matter and Antifa chant "PIGS IN A BLANKET, FRY 'EM

LIKE BACON!", left-wing politicians castigate the police 

at every opportunity over everything the police say

and do, and bend toward left-wingers who demand 

that city police departments are either eliminated

or that their budgets are slashed not to the bone but

to the marrow while crime, especially violent crime,

soars like a rocket. With all this, making for eroded 

morale, many police officers in many cities have

either taken early retirement or resigned altogether

and began new careers performing different work.

And good luck to city mayors and other officials 

in their efforts to rebuild their cities' police forces.

Take Seattle, a city which has seen its uniformed 

police department personnel dwindle to under 

1,000 officers, the fewest cops they've had in over

30 years. Over 300 officers have retired or resigned 

just since 2020! Seattle's new mayor Bruce Harrell

has the double task of reducing crime in his city 

while increasing his police department team.

Harrell wants a bonus of up to $7,500 for new recruits 

and up to $30,000 for experienced officers who come 

to Seattle from police departments in other cities.

Mayor Harrell also wants to cover the costs of their

moving expenses. 

Although the extra money would be nice, there are many

departing Seattle coppers who don't want to work in a 

city where they are hated by the local press and politicians

as well as political radicals and various thugs. Last autumn

the City Council chopped the budget of the police for a 

second consecutive year. Overall crime in Seattle rose

10% in 2021, with violent crime rising by 20%. Property

crime also increased significantly. Starbucks, the Seattle-

based coffee company renown for their many coffee shops 

in many places, announced recently that they will close five 

stores in their home city because of the rocketing crime rate.

There is, all the while, fewer officers working longer hours 

to deal with this astonishing increase in crime. At least, to 

the credit of the people of Seattle, they elected a tough-on-

crime mayor and city attorney, and hopefully will also elect

like-minded city council members to stem the tides of 

increasing crime and a decreasing police force. 

In the meantime, Seattle is a difficult and dangerous city to

visit, let alone work and reside in. And the same can be said

for Milwaukee, Chicago, Saint Louis, Los Angeles, New York,

Philadelphia, and various other cities across the country. 

If we don't take a stand for our law enforcement people, who 

will take a stand for us?

MEM