Minneapolis is in urgent need of law enforcement officers, because following the Floyd incident and its many aftermaths, many police officers have withdrawn from service. Post-traumatic stress has often been cited as a reason. The department has lost a third of its staff.
Minneapolis wants to hire new police officers, but can’t find candidates
Minneapolis Mayor Frey unveiled a plan to increase the police budget in August. The goal is to increase the number of emergency services to more than 800 by 2025. Currently there are significantly fewer, but above all there are very few young people. Each Police Academy class can hold up to 40 recruits, but only six recruits graduated in September. So far this year there have only been 57 candidates, up from 292 in 2019.
You can say “we are hiring more people!” scream as you want, but if only a few people apply, that doesn’t change the outcome much, police spokesman Parten said. Recruiting has now become a problem in the United States.
Crime has increased significantly
In Minneapolis, as in many other cities in the United States, crime increased during the corona pandemic. Murders nearly doubled from 2019 to 2021, and the number of seriously injured increased by a third. There are times when there is a real sense of lawlessness in the city, some residents say. For example, on July 4th, the police seemed unable to stop rioters who were detonating firecrackers at people, buildings and cars. That night alone, the police received more than 1,300 emergency calls.
This message was broadcast on Deutschlandfunk on October 24, 2022.
