WASHINGTON — Rumors that officers are leaving the city’s police force in droves aren’t true, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier says.
“The department is in the midst of a retirement bubble,” Lanier wrote in a memo posted for residents.
According to Lanier, 764 staff members have left the Metropolitan Police Department since January 2014. But given the rise in homicides, the police union says the 22 percent staff reduction threatens citizen safety.
As of Thursday, D.C.’s homicide rate stood at 150 , a nearly 60 percent increase compared with this time last year.
Citing non-competitive pay, onerous scheduling and toxic management, the union’s Gregg Pemberton wrote in a recent blog post that officers with 10 years of experience or less were the second-largest group to leave the department.
While she acknowledges losing staff is a challenge, Lanier writes the young officers’ departures are consistent with 15-year trends.
Neither Lanier’s memo nor Pemberton’s blog post provided specific figures for the number of retirees and non-retirees who had left the force.
