Brian Howey | Howey Politics Indiana May 21, 2021
Brian Howey
COLUMBIA, Md. –- There’s a reason U.S. Sen. Todd Young has been fanning out across Indiana, meeting with policemen and sheriff deputies in recent weeks. He’s up for reelection next year, but he will likely be confronted with some controversies over the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
According to multiple media reports, about 140 U.S. Capitol and Washington Metropolitan PD officers were injured by the mob inspired by President Trump. They suffered a lost eye, cracked ribs, severed fingers, smashed spinal disks, heart attacks after being repeatedly tased by their own weapons and dozens of concussions. Some 38 Capitol Police employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since the attack, almost all of them had responded to the riot.
More than 70 officers have left force since January 6, Capitol Police union says
“What keeps me awake at night is not the challenge of hiring and training more police officers, but keeping the officers we have right now,” said USCP Labor Committee Chairman Gus Papathanasiou in a statement. “We have many officers on the fence about whether to stay with this department.”
A law enforcement source says the rate of attrition this year slightly outpaces what is normal by this time each year.
However, the union suggests low morale within the ranks following the deadly riot is a major factor in officers’ decisions to leave.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – More than 70 Capitol Police officers have left the force since the Jan. 6 riot, a union leader said Friday.
Gus Papathanasiou, chairman of the Capitol Police Labor Committee, said the resignations and retirements reflect low morale on the force after the deadly attack that injured 140 officers. Overall, the department is operating with 233 vacancies below its 2,070 authorized full-time positions, he said. What keeps me up at night is not the challenge of hiring and training more officers, but keeping the officers we have right now, Papathanasiou said.
Officer Brian Sicknick, who was sprayed with a chemical spray during the attack, died the next day from strokes, according the D.C. medical examiner. Capitol Police Officer Howie Liebengood and D.C. Officer Jeffrey Smith died by suicide in the days after the attack.
May 21, 2021 / 12:50 PM EST
“What keeps me awake at night is not the challenge of hiring and training more police officers, but keeping the officers we have right now,” said USCP Labor Committee Chairman Gus Papathanasiou in a statement. “We have many officers on the fence about whether to stay with this department.”
A law enforcement source says the rate of attrition this year slightly outpaces what is normal by this time each year.
However, the union suggests low morale within the ranks following the deadly riot is a major factor in officers’ decisions to leave.
“Almost one quarter of our officers are eligible to retire in the next few years,” Papathanasiou said. “These more senior officers joined right after the 9/11 attack 20 years ago and have seen two of their colleagues die in the line of duty this year. They’re now facing 6-day work weeks and double shifts for the foreseeable future. Many question why they should stay.”