Police officers quit over lack of support

Declining morale has led police officers across the country to leave their jobs since protests began late last month over the death of George Floyd. After some back-and-forth over the actual number, the Atlanta Police Department told WAGA-TV that eight officers had resigned since the beginning of June. “The morale is bad right now,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said during a news conference.

Where else has this happened? In Minneapolis, where officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck before he died in police custody, at least seven officers had quit and seven others were in the process of resigning as of Sunday. Some told the Star Tribune that Mayor Jacob Frey’s response to the protests discouraged them. Frey ordered the police department to abandon the Third Precinct building, which protesters later burned down. Dozens of officers left the police department in Buffalo, N.Y., earlier this month after it suspended two officers for shoving a 75-year-old demonstrator. And CNN reported that 10 officers quit a SWAT team in South Florida, citing leadership’s response to the protests.

Dig deeper: Read Collin Garbarino’s report in Muse on how the recent controversy has affected television shows that focus on law enforcement.