Law enforcement on surging police resignations and retirements, how crime and anti-police rhetoric are a factor
National Police Association Spokesperson Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith, LAPD Detective Jamie McBride and former Chicago police officer Anthony Napolitano discuss what is behind the growing exodus of police officers across the U.S.
Law enforcement agencies are sounding the alarm on the consequences of a dramatic increase in police resignations and retirements since 2020, leaving America's streets less protected as crime rocks the country.
National Police Association spokesperson Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith, LAPD Detective Jamie McBride and former Chicago police officer Anthony Napolitano joined "Fox & Friends First" Friday to weigh in on what they called a "crisis."
"We can't get new people to this profession because law enforcement has been lied about," Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith warned.
"We've been vilified. So we're heading we're in a crisis."
Data from city police departments across the nation show officer shortages from 2020-2022. (Fox News )
According to a report from the Police Executive Research Forum, police resignations are up 18% with retirements up 45%.
Meanwhile, crime in major cities continues to rise. According to police department data, Chicago has seen a 39% increase in crime, Philadelphia 24.3%, New York City 21.1%. and Los Angeles 8.7% year-over-year.
LAPD Detective Jamie McBride shared concern over his city as fewer officers means a decreased ability to serve the community.
"It's not safe here," McBride warned. "I've been telling people for over a year, do not come to Los Angeles. We cannot keep you safe."
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"Every day is living in a movie set, between the movie 'Purge' with all the violence, crimes and murders, and ‘The Walking Dead,' because you got all these people there on drugs in the homeless tents."
The law enforcement officials on the "Fox & Friends First" panel pinned the staffing crisis and rise in crime back to Democrats' defund movement in 2020 and liberal officials' soft-on-crime policies.
"It doesn't matter here in Los Angeles because nobody goes to jail," McBride said. "The problem is you go back to 2020 and the defund the police movement."
"What they're doing now is vilifying the job, and they're connecting with our state's attorney and our chief judge, letting all these prisoners out and all these offenders out immediately," former Chicago police officer Anthony Napolitano added. "And it makes cops throw their hands up in the air and say, I'm not going to do this job anymore."
Sgt. Smith argued Americans are in support of a greater police presence and will make their case at the ballot box.
"Most citizens want their police departments refunded or funded more, while citizens are concerned with our mental health," Sgt. Smith said. "And most citizens want more police in their neighborhoods."
"It's not the people who want their police defunded, it's the politicians."
As officers face the growing threat of violence, an alarming number of juveniles are reportedly engaging in attacks.
Earlier this month, an 18-year-old shot and killed a 15-year-old in broad daylight on a Queens-bound subway train.
Another group of teenagers assaulted a woman riding a bus in Washington, D.C., while bystanders watched the beating.
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Former NFL player Jack Brewer has been a vocal advocate on addressing the rising number of juvenile crimes.
"This is an epidemic of proportions that this nation has never seen," Brewer told "Fox & Friends" Friday. "We have zero accountability for parents. And until that stops, you're not going to see these trends back down."