With the advent of the pandemic and societal unrest, today’s government agencies are faced with evolving threats like never before. The pandemic, which has created higher unemployment rates and civil unrest across the nation, has created the ‘perfect storm’ for increased crime. Furthermore, in a recent article, the Wall Street Journal reported that in a survey of municipal budget officers, the average municipality tax revenue has declined 11% year over year, and most expect 2021 revenues will come in 13% below 2020 levels. How can today’s agencies ensure the protection of their employees and their property in times of heightened security needs in a financially feasible way?
Compounding the problem, over the past decade, our country’s police departments have been under immense pressure to keep crime rates low despite whittled-down budgets and a reduction in staffing. Today, in 2020, with the mass protests and civil unrest that followed George Floyd’s death and a national movement to “defund the police,” the struggle to recruit police is harder than ever. The Police Executive Research Forum reports that 63% of police departments nationwide have seen a decrease in applications. This year alone, the NYPD reported a dramatic increase in retirements. From March 1 through July 22, 813 NYPD officers retired, and another 1,172 cops filed paperwork to follow them. These numbers such as these cannot easily be replaced.