Local law enforcement officials say they believe a more robust full-time job market opened up by a recent wave of retirements and an overall more hostile climate toward policing have led to a shortage of part-time police officers.
Local police leaders say part-time work is harder to find wfmj.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wfmj.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Policing and community relations: a two-way street
Newswatch 16 s Amanda Eustice speaks with those who believe more communication, better education, and transparency may help mend police and community relations. Author: Amanda Eustice (WNEP) Updated: 3:47 PM EDT May 6, 2021
Whether we see it on television or we see it on our cell phones, over the past couple of years, people, specifically people of color, have died at the hands of police. We re not 100 percent right, law enforcement, and you know some of my counterparts get upset when I say this, but we did this, John Chilleri said. We did some of it to ourselves. We really did because we were ignoring some of the problems along the way.
Melissa Shaffer attended Lackawanna College Police Academy before Rush Twp. hired her for a part time position. That was weeks before law enforcement s use of force came under intense fire. She was taught an officer has to know how and when to react and it doesn t always have to involve force. . There are more good cops than bad cops, she said. Unfortunately it s the bad cops who get the most publicity, Shaffer continued.