June 9, 2021
After a year of controversy and heightened scrutiny, police departments around the country are facing a surge of retirements and a lag in applicants.
SHOW TRANSCRIPT I got on in June of 1992 so I m almost at 29 years at the end of the month. I personally have never seen morale be this low in the department, said Jim Calvino, president of the Chicago Police Sergeants Association.
Calvino says that low morale is helping to push a surge of retirements and recruitment troubles for Chicago PD.
Calvino: When I first got on, we marked our seniority basically, on our left sleeve of our outer garments. A star means 20 years. When I first got on, I d see guys with a star, a bar, a second bar, sometimes even two stars. Now guys are leaving. They re leaving. They just can t deal with it any longer.