Cries of “defund the police” caused a seismic disruption to law enforcement staffing nationwide, but not in the way anti-cop activists might have imagined when they were shouting the slogan.
Nearly every major city in the country has a shortage of police officers, despite local leaders opening the vault to keep officers and cadets on the job.
Even when violent crime plummeted and public safety concerns quieted, elected officials continued to raise salaries, offer bonuses and denounce the “defund” chant that animated 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests…