A record number of officers resigned from the Israel Police force during the first six months of 2022, creating an unprecedented inner crisis. Israel Police presented its data to the Knesset Public Security Committee to raise awareness of the growing problem.
Retiring officers mentioned low wages, unreasonable workload, and professional burnout. Four hundred sixty-five police officers have resigned since January 2022, on top of 628 officers who were already slated to retire due to age and 47 who were dismissed. Compared to previous years, the sharp rise in retiring officers is almost inexplicable. Eight hundred twenty-four police officers resigned throughout 2021, 450 quit in 2020, 580 did so in 2019, and 467 resigned throughout 2018.
#Israel Police to cut training from 7 months to 7 weeks amid a shortage of manpower
ā i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) June 21, 2022
'What do we get now? #Police officers who lack education and professionality,' says Asher Ben Artzi, former director of INTERPOLhttps://t.co/mrwstykqGM
Additional data shows that the Border Patrol, a division of the National Police that coordinates with the Israel Defense Forces, is facing almost identical issues: Seventy-one Border Police officers resigned over the past six months, and 114 did so throughout 2021.
Addressing the members of the Public Security Committee, Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai warned that assuming that the number of officers who quit will only rise, "We're looking at a situation where in 18 months, the police as we know it could cease to exist."
"Over the past year, we have experienced many incidents that have undermined the public's sense of security. There's a never-ending accumulation of security threats, and the Israel Police have been stretched to the limit. The price for that is burnout. We are approaching a situation where if an emergency happens ā murder or rape ā not only will we be unable to arrive within minutes, we may be unable to arrive at all.ā
Israel Police facing moral crisis, the Commish should have said & ought to have added: '4/13/21, last year, my police broke into Al-Aqsa Mosque & silenced 8:00 p.m. call 2 prayer. We are a bunch of brutal racists! There! I said it! I QUIT!' https://t.co/Q42ENmSIL7 via @JNS_org
ā FRACASO ROTUNDO (@curva_plano) July 18, 2022
"There is a direct correlation between the service conditions for police officers and the personal security of the Israeli public. In an emergency, seconds separate being able to prevent an incident or save lives. We are getting close to being unable to meet [the public's] needs. If we don't have enough officers to send [out on a call] it will end up costing lives," Shabtai further noted.
A senior police officer said that currently, the number of patrol officers, who make up the bulk of the daily operations on the ground, is down by 15%, or 625 officers. "That's an insane number. Some police stations are down by a third of their personnel," he said.
Commander Boaz Goldberg, head of human resources at the Israel Police, told the committee that of the officers who resigned over the past six months, 31% (142) were patrol officers, 13% (58) were investigators, 11% (49) were Border Police officers, 7.5% (34) were detectives, 6% (26) were counterterrorism officers. The rest held other positions in the force.
