Baltimore police say 42 officers left the force in June. That's up from 17 who departed in the same month last year, and the 20 who left the year before that. The department is now 106 officers short of its authorized strength of 3,119 sworn positions.
Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld, speaking on Maryland Public Television's "Direct Connection" program said his agency can't hire fast enough "to keep up with the attrition rate we're seeing now. We're operating at very conservative staffing levels across all units. The gap is only going to widen."
The big question is why did so many cops leave?
The union says it's no coincidence that the exodus occurred in the weeks leading up to changes in their pensions that left them contributing more and getting less -- and upping the years from 20 to 25 need to retire. City Hall says the departures, while unusually high when compared to the most recent years, are not unusual when looking back over the past decade. They say 31 officers left in June 2004, 53 in June 2005 and 41 in June 2007.
I've included charts showing attrition rates and officer departures and you can look at the numbers and decide for yourself. Either way, police are planning more recruitment drives aimed at enticing ex-military types and women, even though they've cut back on academy classes from five or six a year to two or three.
The police union says their threats of an exodus have come true; City Hall says this is just part of a routine pattern.