18 Atlanta Cops Quit, LAPD Can’t Pay $40 Million Overtime As Police Morale Hits “Rock Bottom”

As protests against police brutality continue to rage across major US cities, cops across the country have reached their breaking point.

On Monday, the Atlanta Police Foundation some 19 Atlanta police officers have resigned amid the growing civil unrest. And according to Foundation CEO Dave Wilkinson, “Morale is at an all-time low.“

“We are now going into the third consecutive week of unabated protests in which officers have worked 12-hour shifts seven days per week. As you can imagine, their stress levels are exacerbated by physical and emotional exhaustion,” Wilkinson told CBS46.

The resignations come after an officer involved in the shooting death of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks was fired, another was placed on administrative leave, and Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields announced that she would be stepping down following the incident.

“The morale is bad right now. A lot of anger and frustration directed at our police officers,” said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

As we noted over the weekend, Tulsa, Oklahoma police major Travis Yates told “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that police morale is at an all-time low, and that “Every department, every officer you talk to is looking to leave.” Yates published a column last Friday on the website LawOfficer.com titled “America, We Are Leaving,” in which he says “I wouldn’t wish this job on my worst enemy,” adding “I would never send anyone I cared about into the hell that this profession has become … I used to talk cops out of leaving the job. Now I’m encouraging them. It’s over, America. You finally did it You aren’t going to have to abolish the police, we won’t be around for it.”

Making matters worse, Los Angeles Police Department officers have racked up to $40 million in overtime during the recent protests, according to FoxLA‘s Bill Melugin, whose sources tell him morale is at “rock bottom.”

The officers will instead be given comp time.

According to multiple LAPD sources, LAPD Transit Division/MTA services, which is paid via OT, had 43 officers cancel their shifts today, and they are now averaging 12-18 cancellations per shift. I’ll be live at 6 on @FOXLA

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 16, 2020