LAPD morale at all-time low amid BLM protests, cops feel vilified and are looking to retire or leave ASAP
Thanks to relentless Black Lives Matter protests coupled with the vilification of law enforcement by local politicians, morale within the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is reportedly at a "record low." Speaking to CBS Los Angeles, Los Angeles Police Protective League Director Robert Harris said officers feel "beaten and bruised" by the ongoing protests. An LAPD source echoed similar concerns to Breitbart News. “Morale across the rank-and-file is at a record low. Especially out on the street in patrol," they said. "We have been vilified and abandoned by the mayor, all but three of the city council members, as well as many business owners and residents of the city of Los Angeles.”
When the riots peaked in early June with the National Guard on the streets, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he would be slashing the LAPD budget by a whopping $150 million - in response to calls to "defund the police" from BLM activists.
Police officers learned the week after that they would not receive overtime for the additional hours they spent on the streets controlling riots and protests. As a result, many police officers have almost "given up on fighting crime." “The citizens think crime and homelessness is bad now? They have seen nothing yet,” the LAPD source told Breitbart. “Wait till a couple of months go by. Pro-activity is all but gone. It sucks. But the community has allowed cops to be vilified."
“When there is blood in the streets, due to a drastic increase of out-of-control violent crime? Then all the people, including businesses who have turned their backs on cops, will learn of the mistake they made on selling us out!" they continued. “With all the criminals getting out of jail, people will be at the mercy of the violent criminals. But that’s what the masses have asked for. The City’s Guard Dog will not be beaten any longer," the source added.
According to the report, the collapse in morale is sudden and one after years of gradual progress.
The previous low for the LAPD was during riots that erupted in 1992 after the officers who beat Rodney King were acquitted. The department had to undergo decades of reform and closely work with civil rights lawyers to improve relationships between law enforcement and the public. “The detente is not perfect — there are still police-community confrontations. But there seems to be more willingness to listen on both sides," National Public Radio reported in 2012, but now it seems like "that hard work has largely been forgotten. And police feel abandoned."
“Cops are retiring and looking to leave ASAP. Why put our families through this garbage for an ungrateful public,” the LAPD source told Breitbart. “We can go to jail for simply doing our jobs. It’s simply not worth it any longer.”
Meanwhile, Harris told CBS Los Angeles how one of his officers told him "that he feels like a Vietnam soldier returning home to a country that hates him, and that’s not a good place to be.”