DC Police Chief: “What Am I Going To Do With These [Shrinking] Resources? I Can’t Work These Officers To Death.”

The DC Police Chief, Robert Contee, shares a strong point while answering questions regarding the recent increase in shootings in the city.

He states:

“The reality is, we have a shrinking work force. I have a definitive amount of resources. 200 and some officers less this year than what I had last year. With that being said, what am I gonna do with these resources? I can’t work these officers to death. I’m not gonna have them out here making bad decisions, getting involved in use-of-force incidents. We need to make sure we are a police dept of a major city, a police department in a nation’s capitol, that we are properly staffed to where it is we need to be.”

Fox News reported:

Earlier in the week, he said the Metropolitan Police Department was down almost 215 officers. In July 2020, as calls to defund the police grew louder following the death of George Floyd, the department had 3,800 officers, he said.

By September 2022, the police force is projected to have around 3,460 officers.

In addition, last July, city leaders reduced police department funding by $15 million and issued a hiring freeze. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s 2022 fiscal year budget didn’t include extra funding for the department, though it had more than $40 million for public safety initiatives.

“There’s been intentional efforts to not provide the full resources, in my opinion, the police department needs,” Contee said. “Right now we’re in this budget season. The police department’s budget should have been fully supported.”

My heart goes out to the police officers who work in these democrat-run cities, especially since these cities have equated shoplifting to a parking ticket, in regards to consequence. The funding is not being prioritized how it should be.

Very powerful statement and depicts an accurate repercussion of the Democrats cutting much needed funding.

DC Police Chief on the recent increase in shootings:

“The reality is we have a shrinking workforce. I have a definitive amount of resources. 200 and some officers less this year than I had last year.” pic.twitter.com/PMgxqhXEhO

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 23, 2021