James_Nov-Dec_2025_web - Flipbook - Page 13
nti-law enforcement rhetoric
began to spin up in
earnest in 2015 following the death
of Michael Brown
and the unlawful
and unjustified persecution of Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson. It was coupled with the
perpetuation of the “hands up, don’t
shoot” lie. It sparked a phenomenon
that began sending shockwaves
through American law enforcement.
Although the defund the police
movement existed for some time,
it began to gain traction and momentum through the willing participation of informal media sources
which coincided with the meteoric
rise of social media. Even the release of the official U.S. Department
of Justice report debunking the
false narrative was not enough to
slow the current.
OFFICER DEATHS RISE
By the time 2020 rolled around,
law enforcement agencies were experiencing recruiting and retention
difficulties in most major metropolitan cities including Atlanta. The unrest in the summer of 2020 following
the death of George Floyd raised the
volume on a cacophony of ignorance
seemingly singularly focused on
reducing the number of law enforcement officers in the United States.
Cities burned, violence and targeted
ambushes on law enforcement officers increased and even seasoned
law enforcement officers, often
pressured by their families, made
the difficult decision to leave their
beloved profession behind.
While perceptions often drive
trends in the public and private
sectors, these officers were hardly
fleeing specters in the night. The
growing trends of law enforcement
officers shot in the line of duty, previously largely untracked, spiraled
upward with 42 in 2015 rising to an
all-time high of 342 in 2024. During
the same period targeted ambushes
on law enforcement officers— ones
uninvolved in any law enforcement
function in scenario, such as eating lunch, filling out paperwork,
or merely sitting in the precinct
parking lot— skyrocketed. In 2015,
ambushes were at a consistent level
of 4 per year. They rose exponentially to an utterly unacceptable level of
62 to date in 2025.
Doing more with less has become the mantra of the modern age.
Specialized units shrunk in size,
patrol cars ran from call to call, and
police critics began complaining
that law enforcement was doing
nothing more than making arrests
and spending little time with the
public. Not surprising as there
were scarcely enough resources to
respond to 911 calls.
Another pernicious effect of
this recruiting and retention crisis is something tolerated in law
enforcement communities, but not
in other professions. Federal regulations prevent commercial truck
drivers and pilots from working
until exhaustion. It is not uncommon for a commercial airliner to
be delayed so that one of the crew
can be replaced or for a truck stop
to be filled with truck drivers who
have gone over hours for the day.
No such restrictions exist for law
enforcement officers who are relied
upon to make split second decisions
under circumstances that are tense,
uncertain and rapidly evolving daily.
Put simply, a department that is
shorthanded may be working officers with little breaks, few off days
and in an environment of intense
and dangerous service call acuity. It
raises the stakes for the officers as
well as the public they serve.
SUPPORT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
Only outliers truly despise law
enforcement, ignorantly believe
that society could survive without law enforcement, or openly
and hypocritically denounce law
enforcement while living behind
magnetometers and gated communities. The public overwhelmingly supports law enforcement
N OV EM B E R /D EC E M BER 2025
13
