Nearly all Minnesota officers worried about retention rates, MPPOA survey finds
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association just released a survey detailing all the issues currently worrying law enforcement.
"We have a profession where a deep-rooted tradition of multiple generations going into law enforcement," said MPPOA President, David Titus. "Now, to get to a point where statewide the cops are saying overwhelmingly, I would not recommend this profession to my children, it speaks volumes."
According to the survey, 95% of officers are worried about retention rates. The union says "support from political and municipal leaders" was the most popular answer from officers for addressing recruitment and retention.
Nearly all respondents also said they were also worried about prosecution for on-duty actions.
"Cops are tired of the negative rhetoric, they're tired of being vilified, they're tired of feeling there's no support from our elected officials," said Titus. "This result alone tells me that cops have had enough."
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About 80% said they would not recommend joining their profession.
In a statement, MPPOA Executive Director Brian Peters said the law enforcement profession in Minnesota is "both in a morale and recruitment and retention crisis." He called for community and political leader support.
The anonymous electronic survey was sent out in early February to the MPPOA's entire Minnesota active-duty membership. The study had received 1,241 responses before was stopped on Feb. 18 when the first responders in Burnsville were killed.
"When I first started, I was more worried about the bad guys than anything else. That was my concern. When you're a cop, when you're pushing a squad car working midnights, the bad guys are the most dangerous thing in your life," said Mark Ross with the St. Paul Police Federation. "I think most cops now would tell you, it might not be the bad guys, it might be politicians, it might be legislators or some of these other groups, that they worry about more than facing down the bad guys at the end of the night. "
The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association is the largest statewide organization representing officers.
Police departments in Minnesota and across the country are struggling to hire and retain officers, according to a report last year from the U.S. Department of Justice.
To combat the decreased staffing levels, the report — commissioned by Attorney General Merrick Garland — suggests that police leaders should work to better understand the needs of the communities they serve while modernizing and streamlining hiring practices.
The Justice Department report offers suggestions for new training and retention initiatives once officers are recruited to the force, like signing bonuses, pension plans and a greater variety of retirement plans.
"I'm hopeful that can change, I'm hopeful that good candidates will see this as a positive, that the climate will be in a way that we can recruit and we can retain and people look at it as an honorable profession again, because it truly is," said Titus.