On Friday, former “Live PD” host Dan Abrams had former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best on his NewsNation show to discuss her new book, “Black in Blue.”
During the segment, Abrams noted that he’s gotten heat for stating that the “vast majority of police officers” are good.
“I’ve spent a lot of time covering police officers, etc. I see how much time and effort the vast majority of police officers spend to do their jobs really well. And yet, there are a few bad players out there, and as you point out, those are the ones who should be held accountable,” Abrams said.
He added that there’s a segment of the population who want to “lump in” all the good officers with the bad, and who ask him how he can “defend the police?”
“That’s a real cultural problem in our society,” Abrams said.
Best later noted that speaking in terms of data, Abrams is correct: “… out of the hundreds and thousands of contacts made each year, most of them, the vast majority, go well …”
Abrams then spoke about a “maddening” issue he’s encountered living in Manhattan after his son decided to be a police officer for Halloween:
I have people saying to me, “Well, are you nervous about your son going out as a police officer for Halloween?” And I’m like, “What are you talking about? Am I nervous about my son going out for Halloween as a police officer?” The fact that we’re at that point is just so frustrating to me, and maddening.
According to a survey conducted in May by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), police departments across the nation appear to be experiencing heavier than usual resignation and retirement rates.
Agencies reported an overall 18% increase in the resignation rate in 2020-21, compared to 2019-20 …
Among all responding police departments, there was a 45% increase in the retirement rate. (In small departments, a small number of retirements may result in a high percentage increase in the retirement rate. But even in the largest agencies, with 500 or more officers, the retirement rate increased by 27%.)
Additionally, multiple police department surveys have reported low morale among staff.
In April, the Committee on Policing Reforms revealed that according to a survey of approximately 103 staff at the Brooklyn Police Department, “Eighty-eight respondents described the morale in the department as poor, 10 said it was okay, and just three said it was good or excellent.”
Partial transcript below:
ABRAMS: I have said something many times, which I’ve gotten a lot of heat for, and you say it just more eloquently in your book, and it’s basically, you say that a small minority of bad actors draw most of the headlines when it comes to police. And yet, I hear again and again, people say to me, that’s just a copout. You’re just trying to defend the police. You’re just trying to protect them, etc. But I do think that’s true. I mean, I see, I’ve spent a lot of time covering police officers, etc. I see how much time and effort the vast majority of police officers spend to do their jobs really well. And yet, there are a few bad players out there, and as you point out, those are the ones who should be held accountable. There’s got to be a system whereby they should be held accountable. But these people who just want to sort of lump in the police and say, oh, you know, they’re bad. How could you “defend the police?” That’s a real cultural problem in our society.
BEST: Yeah, you bet it is. Society-wise, we tend to group people in groups and stereotype in certain ways. And we really need to work on breaking that. I can tell you that no one dislikes bad cops worse than the good cops, because it takes all of us down; all of our reputations suffer when people have aberrations or violate law or policy. So we certainly want to make sure that we have the appropriate level of discipline in those cases. But as you’ve noted, and as really the data shows, out of the hundreds and thousands of contacts made each year, most of them, the vast majority, go well, but when they go wrong, obviously, it’s really disturbing for people, and people point to that.
ABRAMS: You know, I’ll tell you, just in terms of this cultural moment we’re in, you know, when you live in Manhattan as I do, my son — and I haven’t disclosed this until now — my son is going to be for Halloween a police officer. He decided … he just decided he wanted to be a police officer, and so he got a police outfit, etc. And I have people saying to me, “Well, are you nervous about your son going out as a police officer for Halloween?” And I’m like, “What are you talking about? Am I nervous about my son going out for Halloween as a police officer?” The fact that we’re at that point is just so frustrating to me, and maddening. And I think that’s why something like your book, and you being out there publicly being able to talk about both racial reconciliation and supporting the police at the same time, is so important.
This article has been expanded after publication to include additional information.