The increasingly anti-cop climate throughout the nation has raised concerns that police recruitment could suffer, but so far — at least in certain cities — it actually may be bringing in more applications, law enforcement authorities told FoxNews.com.
(FOX)- In Dallas, where Police Chief David Brown, in the wake of the July 7 assassination of five police officers, called for protesters to apply to his department to “be part of the solution,” applications have skyrocketed. Departments in Denver, Las Vegas and other major metropolitan areas have seen more modest increases in applications, and one former Los Angeles police officer hoped it is a sign Americans are answering an urgent call.
“It could turn out to be similar to what occurred after 911, where numbers increased,” retired LAPD Detective Supervisor Sal LaBarbera told FoxNews.com.
Orange County, Calif., Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Mark Stichter said the department is seeing a spike in applications.
“Law enforcement draws a certain type of person,” Stichter said. “When horrible events like cops being shot occur, there are people who want to be a part of working at trying to solve the problem.”
Scorn directed at police by protesters such as Black Lives Matter has intensified since the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., two years ago. Although the Department of Justice cleared the police officer who fired the fatal shots, subsequent racially charged shootings by police have led to demonstrations throughout the country. And the Dallas murders, as well as the assassinations of three Baton Rouge, La., cops on July 16, has driven home that police are not only unpopular, they are at grave risk.