Survey: Police nationwide see increase in resignations, retirements

(KION) A new survey released by the Police Executive Research Forum looks at police workforce trends around the country, and while they report seeing only a modest decrease in the hiring rate, police departments report a higher number of resignations and retirements.

The group conducted the survey between May 10 and May 21, 2021, and the report says they surveyed police agencies whose chief executives are PERF members.

According to the June 2021 report, agencies reported an 18% increase in the resignation rate in 2020-2021 compared to 2019-2020, and the retirement rate was even higher. The agencies reported a 45% increase in the retirement rate.

The smallest increase in resignation rates was in small agencies with fewer than 50 officers, according to the survey, but they also saw higher resignation rates than larger agencies before 2020. Larger agencies reported a lower increase in resignation rates in general, large and medium-sized agencies reported the highest increase in resignation rates over the past year.

Agencies with fewer than 250 sworn employees saw the highest increase in officer retirement rates at 49% for agencies with fewer than 50 officers and 59% for agencies with 50 to 249 officers. PERF warns that in small departments, a small number of retirements may lead to a higher rate, but even the largest agencies surveyed reported that their retirement rate increased by 27%.

Anonymous survey respondents gave a variety of possible reasons for the changes.

“Senior officers who are able to retire are retiring.  They enjoy the work and the people but are not willing to go through another change in law enforcement with little structural input from all parties. And there’s a belief that violent crime will continue to rise," one respondent wrote.

Another respondent said, “We have seen the most dramatic increase in retirements/resignations in my six years as chief.  Officers who became eligible to retire have done it at the first opportunity.  We had a lieutenant resign with 16 years who was not eligible for retirement.”

Despite the trends, some departments reported not seeing a significant change.

While agencies report an increase in resignations and retirements, they also report a smaller decrease in the hiring rate at 5% overall. Smaller agencies, in general, reported an increase in hiring, while larger agencies reported a decrease.

Some agencies report seeing more of a decrease.

“Applications have decreased dramatically, making hiring extremely difficult. And our officers have fatigue from working long shifts and covering backfill slots to supplement staffing," a respondent wrote.

Others say they are still getting applicants, but see a change in the department.

“My department is getting younger as my experienced personnel retire/resign and are replaced with new officers.  We are struggling to keep up with salaries for neighboring larger departments who are recruiting my experienced officers.”

Although the rates among Central Coast law enforcement agencies have not been released, there have been several retirements over the last year.

Former Watsonville Police Cheif David Honda, former San Benito County Sheriff Darren Thompson and Salinas Police Chief Adele Fresé all announced plans to retire in April of this year. In October 2020, former UC Santa Cruz Police Chief Nader Oweis announced his retirement.