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A survey of 5,935 New York Police Department officers, released last week, found that a startling 56% would not become cops if they had to do it again. 

That’s a travesty

DOZENS OF SAN FRANCISCO AREA STORES, PHARMACIES HIT BY MOBS OF SMASH-AND-GRAB LOOTERS: 'HURTS US ALL'

There’s a certain type of person who is drawn to law enforcement jobs. It is not a glamorous job nor does it pay particularly well for the risks they are asked every day to endure. 

But for a long time, the profession was respected. Everyone knew we needed police for a functioning society. 

Last year, when the Black Lives Matter protests turned into riots all over the country, police were maligned as the enemy. The foolish idea "Defund Police" spread among the left and took up residence among policy makers. The idea sounded like a joke and yet cities across the country made cuts to their police departments in response to activist demands. 

'DEFUND THE POLICE' LOSES BIG IN DEMOCRATIC CITIES NATIONWIDE

When the predictable crime spikes arrived, cities tried to back-pedal. But after months of maligning the men and women protecting our streets it wasn’t quite so easy to rebuild. 

In Minneapolis, where George Floyd had been killed in May of 2020 by a police officer, the rage against police ran white hot. That December, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey signed a budget cutting $8 million dollars from the police force.

What happened next was obvious. In 2019, Minneapolis had recorded 48 murders. By September of 2021, that number was 67. 

DEFUND THE POLICE MOVEMENT STILL HURTING LAW ENFORCEMENT ACROSS THE UNITED STATES

By November, voters rejected a ballot initiative to replace the police department with a Department of Public Safety which would have taken a "comprehensive public health approach" to criminal activity. 

Rebuilding a demoralized police department won’t be easy. According to the New York Post, in the same study on the NYPD, a "staggering 80 percent of the officers, detectives, sergeants, lieutenants and captains surveyed now fear aggressively fighting crime because of the threat of criminal liability, being sued, or being unfairly disciplined." 

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When most of your police department doesn’t want to be there, and a large majority don’t feel they can do their jobs, our cities are in peril. But like so much in woke culture, few will admit what we all know. 

We need police to be motivated and empowered in order to have successful cities. The numbers don’t lie: the consistent attack on police has broken the social contract. 

We have told police that we don’t need them to defend us and they have heard us loud and clear. 

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Admitting the truth, that we need the police forces to protect us all will take brave politicians on the left. 

So far, none have stepped forward to do what they should. 

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