It’s no secret that we live in some very unprecedented times – particularly when we look at law enforcement in the United States.
Over the past year, our nation or at least a multitude of major cities and municipalities have made drastic calls to limit not only the resources law enforcement officers have at their disposal but also the number of personnel on their payroll. This, of course, has been in response to the political left’s insistence that police in all forms are inherently evil and must be defunded and reformed, if not completely abolished.
Los Angeles County, California, as one of the most densely populated areas, is not surprisingly one of the many places where this call to defund police has been made.
As Fox News reports, the county, which is home to some 10 million people, according to 2020 census results, and its sheriff’s office was defunded by $145 million last year. In addition to not receiving the proper funding for things like training and supplies, this also meant that some 1,130 law enforcement personnel had to be let go.
That’s 1,130 fewer officers to patrol the streets, investigate crimes, and ensure public safety is being maintained.
But that’s not even the worst of it.
Because of this lack of funding, lack of staffing, and the apparent lack of respect remaining officers are suffering through, many are not so simply choosing to leave the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. In fact, this year so far has seen some 440 deputies resign already, according to Fox. And more are expected…
Some are leaving for greener pastures in law enforcement – you know, to places where they will still be respected and allowed to do their job. Others are leaving the industry altogether, seeking a profession that isn’t lambasted as racist or evil.
And as a result, crime is only getting worse in the city.
Journalist Bill Melugin of Fox points out just how bad things have gotten in Los Angeles over the past year, noting that the few remaining deputies left at the sheriff’s department can’t even begin to handle all that goes on.
Now, LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva says he has put in a request to hire more deputies and by the hundreds, as they are desperately needed to face the “existential threats” of homelessness, violence, and the increase in drug problems.
However, until that is approved and his staff adequately filled, the department has some other plans.
In an attempt to help protect the good people of LA, the sheriff’s department has recently announced that they will soon begin offering more concealed carry weapon permits county-wide. The hope is that if the department is so understaffed and defunded that they can’t do their job, perhaps with more protective guns and firearms in the right hands, the people can protect themselves.
I bet the progressive left wasn’t planning on that when they began their “defund the police” movement. More Second Amendment rights were likely the last thing they wanted this to result in. And yet, because of the sheer stupidity of the anti-police trend, that’s precisely what has happened.
Oh, and, of course, there is the small matter of them making utter fools of themselves over the whole thing.
I mean, if the call for more personnel to be hired by LA’s sheriff’s department is a sign of anything, it’s that their movement as a whole has failed. With months now of the least amount of policing done as possible, crime rates just about everywhere are higher than ever.
And it’s getting noticed, even by staunch leftists like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. In cities like NYC, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and more who voted last year to defund their law enforcement departments, they are now being forced to backtrack and refund the police.
The fact of the matter is, police are critical for a city, a county, and a country’s health as a whole. Without these brave men and women, the entire thing goes to pot essentially, as has well been proven by now. It looks like Los Angeles finally realizes that.
Hopefully, they will use that realization to wisely invest more in policing within the county for the sake of the innocent, if nothing else.