A new analysis by the Marshall Project shows that from 2020 to 2021, nearly 80% of cities saw a drop in the number of police officers and government employees.
The big picture: The pandemic pushed Americans to leave crucial jobs — from sanitation workers to firefighters — leaving cities scrambling to fill those gaps.
- Departments have struggled with recruitment to fill open jobs as well.
- In cities with over 1 million people, like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the number of sworn officers dropped twice as fast as the national average, per the Marshall Project.
State of play: Staffing problems have forced some departments to get creative to meet demand and the changes are having a widespread impact on services, Axios' Ivana Saric writes.