Undeterred criminals plus demoralized cops equals more crime in U.S.: New York Times

NEW YORK, April 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. police morale is abysmal -- one way in which this fact registers is in high levels of voluntary resignations and early retirements, which has led to critical staffing shortages, said an article published by The New York Times on Tuesday.

"A recent academic analysis found that 11 out of the 14 cities it studied suffered from higher-than-expected losses to their police after the George Floyd protests of 2020, with Seattle losing the highest proportion of its force," said the article.

Meanwhile, the sense of impunity among the criminally inclined is growing, and lax enforcement when it comes to petty criminality has led to big-time criminality, according to the article.

"The consequence of supposedly 'victimless' crimes like shoplifting has created a palpable sense of disorder, menace and fear -- each conducive to the anything-goes atmosphere in which crime invariably flourishes," it noted.

"Will things get better?" asked the author of the opinion article. "Eventually, yes, when a critical mass of voters recovers the simple combination of common sense and political will."