PHX Reporter

As law enforcement staffing shortages continue to be an area of concern in every U.S. state, rising crime rates have been a problematic result.

In some major cities, police departments have been forced to alter their hiring requirements in an effort to recruit more help.

Emergency calls are up in Phoenix but the number of police officers is down, KJZZ reported.

"The volume of emergency calls has increased, response times don't meet expectations, and a chronic staffing shortage now has Phoenix police down more than 400 officers," KJZZ said on Twitter. "The department said it will shuffle assignments to have enough people patrol the city."

Across the entire U.S., violent crime – which includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault – rose 4.6% between 2019 and 2020, to a rate of 398.5 crimes per 100,000 people in 2020, according to the FBI's Crime Data Explorer. The FBI's last full year of data was 2020.

In Arizona, violent crime rose 8.6%, from 447.1 to 484.8 per 100,000 people between 2019 and 2020, significantly higher than the national average, according to the FBI.

Police departments across the country are struggling to retain officers and hire new recruits. Many of them blame how the public views law enforcement, because of controversy surrounding police reform and deadly use of force, according to Fox News. 

A 22-year-old who was close to finishing at the Eastern Missouri Police Academy in January told Fox News, "Knowing that you might not have a partner to respond fast because of the low number of officers right now at departments is one of my fears."    

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in late 2021 that the murder rate in the U.S. rose by 30% between 2019 and 2020, marking the largest single-year increase since at least 1905.  

The VICTIM Act (the Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods Act) of 2021 is a bill that provides funding to local police agencies to allow departments to hire and retain police officers, while providing necessary training and equipment. 

"Police departments across the country are fighting to contain this increase in violent crime but they are understaffed, under-resourced, and struggling to hire and retain good, qualified officers," Andy Edmiston, director of government affairs for the National Association of Police Organizations, said, as reported by AZ Big Media.   

The Phoenix Police Department recently reported a staffing shortage of about 400 officers. As a result, the department is in dire need of more officers and has worked to amp up its recruiting efforts. The creation of 33 new civilian positions was approved in March, in an effort to bring in more help. Civilians who fill these positions will perform some of the tasks currently done by sworn personnel, 12News reported.

As morale is down in many law enforcement departments, major U.S. cities have seen a drastic rise in officer retirements. The city of Chicago reported 660 police officer retirements in 2021, almost double that of 2018, when only 350 officers retired during that year, the Chicago Tribune reported.