U.S. cops combat violent crime as ranks dwindle: report

NEW YORK, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Killings and gun violence are rising across the United States while police officers worn out by the pandemic and disillusioned over the calls to divest from policing are quitting or retiring faster than they can be replaced, according to a recent report of The Associated Press.

"Departments are scrambling to recruit in a tight labor market and also rethinking what services they can provide and what role police should play in their communities," said the report. "Many have shifted veteran officers to patrol, breaking up specialized teams built over decades in order to keep up with 911 calls."

"We're getting more calls for service and there are fewer people to answer them," Philadelphia Police spokesperson Eric Gripp, whose department has been rotating employees from specialty units for short assignments to increase patrols, was quoted as saying.

"This isn't just an issue in Philadelphia. Departments all over are down and recruitment has been difficult," he said.

Los Angeles, which is down more than 650 officers from its pre-pandemic staffing level, shuttered its animal cruelty unit and downsized its human trafficking, narcotics and gun details and reduced its homeless outreach teams by 80 percent, according to the report.

This phenomenon follows a national trend: while non-violent crime decreased during the pandemic, the murder rate increased nearly 30 percent in 2020 and the rate of assaults went up 10 percent, the report said, citing the Brennan Center for Justice.