Communities around the U.S. are currently dealing with a police officer shortage, including Washington D.C.; Aurora, Ill.; Washington County, Ind., and Austin, Texas. Indeed, there are some cities where being in law enforcement is better than others, according to WalletHub.
Last year, a survey from the Police Executive Research Forum found that agencies are losing officers faster than they can hire new ones and total sworn staffing has continued to drop. Still, there was some good news – hiring was up in 2022 compared to 2021, 2020 and 2019.
One issue that has impacted policing is police brutality incidents such as the George Floyd killing, and the “Goon Squad” former officers who were sentenced to prison Tuesday for the torture and abuse of two Black men. According to Mapping Police Violence, at least 1,243 people were killed by police in the U.S. last year, more than any other year over the past decade.
President Joe Biden said late last month that his “budget calls for more officers on the street trained in community policing, walking the beat, working hard hand in hand with community leaders and partners and public – to gain public trust and advance public safety.”
WalletHub noted last year that “law enforcement is a career that is always in the public eye, whether for heroic reasons or scandal,” and that “our nation’s 800,000 law enforcement officers have even more of a spotlight than usual, though, amid high-profile police brutality cases.”
At the same time, Biden said police departments help prevent and solve crimes. He thanked “the law enforcement and community leaders here today who have helped bring down violent crime rates in their cities to historic lows.”
WalletHub created a ranking of the best U.S. states for people who want to serve as police officers last year, based on 30 indicators of police-friendliness.
Here’s the top 10:
1. California
2. District of Columbia
3. Connecticut
4. Maryland
5. Illinois
6. Ohio
7. Colorado
8. Washington
9. New York
10. Massachusetts
Here’s the bottom 10 (ranked from the worst at 1):
1. Arkansas
2. Alaska
3. West Virginia
4. Kentucky
5. Nevada
6. Alabama
7. Mississippi
8. Louisiana
9. South Carolina
10. Oregon