As Goodhue Police Chief Josh Smith struggled this summer to fill vacancies in his small department, he warned the town’s City Council that unless pay and benefits improved, finding new officers would never happen.
When nothing changed, Smith quit. So did his few remaining officers, leading the Minnesota town of 1,300 residents to shutter its police force in late August.
America is in the midst of a police officer shortage that many in law enforcement blame on the twofold morale hit of 2020 — the coronavirus pandemic and criticism of police that boiled over with the murder of George Floyd by a police officer. From Minnesota to Maine, Ohio to Texas, small towns unable to fill jobs are eliminating their police departments and turning over police work to their county sheriff, a neighboring town or state police.
There already are records that follow them. Arrest records and police reports. Then the police union plays the qualified immunity card and gets them all their back pay.
Solution: outlaw police unions and void their existing contracts. They’re the one category of unions I don’t support.
Which gets back to “If we lived in a utopia, these steps toward fixing society wouldn’t be an issue”
I hate police unions and consider them organized crime. But I am generally going to vote against ANY precedent for the government breaking up a union because that is the kind of slippery slope that actually has consequences. Instead, I push for politicians who want to get rid of qualified immunity.