Some of the officers surveyed said they don’t even feel
comfortable intervening in incidents and making arrests without having been
called to the scene.
“They’re afraid,” said City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy”
Schleifer, who conducted the unscientific survey. “In this political
environment, you have to justify every move you make.”
About 362 of the department’s nearly 2,300 officers
responded to Schleifer’s voluntary survey, which was sent at the end of 2018
via department email to police department leadership, officers and civilian
members who responded anonymously. The short questionnaire asked basic
biographical information, including respondents’ ages and how long they had
served on the force, and questions about overall morale.
The results showed 43 percent said they do not feel
“comfortable making self-initiated arrests,” which Schleifer said refers to
proactive calls when officers are on patrol and they witness an incident and
intervene, as opposed to calls they respond to through 911.
The survey also found that 74 percent said they “feel
restricted by the consent decree,” while 44 percent said they don’t “fully
understand the consent decree.” Only 60 percent said they feel “adequately
trained” while 78 percent said they feel the department has “lowered our hiring
standards.”
Two of every three officers who took the survey — 68 percent
— also said they do not feel city leadership supports law enforcement.
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