Date
10-16-2025
Department
Helms School of Government
Degree
Doctor of Criminal Justice (DCJ)
Chair
Stacey White
Keywords
perceived mass exodus, police officers, ferguson effect, false narrative
Disciplines
Law | Leadership Studies
Recommended Citation
Wood, Kimberly, "Police Officers’ Perception of the Anti-Police Movement and How That Affects Officer Retention in Minnesota" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7526.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7526
Abstract
The research aims to investigate the perceived mass exodus of police officer departures alongside police officer retention rates throughout Minnesota. The study investigates whether high-profile police officer prosecutions together with national news incidents directly cause police officers to leave their jobs along with the Ferguson Effect taking place. The profession of policing has become more challenging and dangerous for its practitioners. The combination of recruitment challenges and increased assaults on police officers without punishment for perpetrators and elevated arrest resistance from suspects has led to the perceived mass exodus of police officers. The number of officer shootings and assaults combined with rising criminal attacks on police squads has increased. A Minneapolis man faces assault charges after he rammed his vehicle into police squad cars according to Skluzacek (2022) news. The false belief that American policing is racist continues to endanger police officers through assaults and ambush attacks. Gang members together with criminals receive empowerment and motivation to target police officers for death. The police force suffers from reduced numbers of personnel. The research investigates how police officers view the anti-police movement because it impacts their decision to stay in the Minnesota police force. Active police officers in Minnesota are participating in the survey as part of this research. The study investigates whether police officers' views about anti-police rhetoric and media criticism along with politician disapproval and high-profile police officer prosecutions lead to officer departures from the profession. The Minneapolis Police Department lost approximately 300 officers (“Minneapolis police suffer from historically low staffing shortages: ‘Not sustainable’” 2023).
