More than 70 Capitol police officers have quit after the events of January 6, when a crowd of supporters of former US President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to interrupt the vote count, the Politico reported on Saturday, citing the police union.
According to the Capitol Police union chair Gus Papathanasiou, officers are "demoralized" and "looking for a way out" as they face longer working hours for an indefinite period of time and deal with the trauma caused by the recent attacks, the news outlet stated.
"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. We have many officers on the fence about whether to stay with this department," Papathanasiou was cited as saying by the Politico.
On Thursday, the US lawmakers passed a $1.9 billion emergency funding bill aimed to enhance the security of the Capitol. It provides for overtime pay, hazard pay and retention bonuses, in addition to more equipment and better training for the police officers. However, this measure may not be enough to solve the issue amid the surge in violence, the union chair was quoted as saying by the Politico.
In early April, an unknown person approached the territory of the Capitol by car, shot down two police officers and then crashed into a fence. After that, he got out of the car and, allegedly, rushed at the police brandishing a knife. In response, the officers opened fire. The attacker and one of the wounded police officers died in the hospital.
On January 6, a crowd of supporters of then President Donald Trump ransacked the US Capitol and disrupted the work of Congress counting electoral votes to formalize Joe Biden's victory. More than 140 people were reportedly injured in the storming, five people died of various causes. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
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