As part of their “Future of the Force” series Monday, NBC Nightly News and anchor Lester Holt took a step back to admire their handiwork, gawking at how morale in police departments nationwide was “at an all-time low.” Of course, this comes after the network spent over a year stoking hate of cops, backing the defund the police movement, decrying cops protecting their lives, and deceptively editing evidence of a just use of force to protect a civilian.
“After a year of facing unrest, more and more police officers are leaving the job. And many say morale has plummeted,” announced Holt, as if he had nothing to do with it.
Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez unironically filed his report from Portland, Oregon, which saw Antifa terrorists try to kill police by trapping them in the federal courthouse and trying to burn it down:
Since last July, at least 115 Portland officers left the force either by resigning or retiring. There are barely 800 left. Just last week, members of the city's rapid response team resigned from the unit after one officer was charged with excessive force during a protest last year.
“Night after night after night. The clashes in Portland were relentless. And many police officers felt targeted,” he noted of the violence. But as NewsBusters reported at the time, NBC wanted nothing to with it and tried to hide the truth from their viewers. NBC even claimed there was “no explanation” for why police were arresting Antifa members and ignored a cache of munitions that were found.
Back on Monday, Gutierrez also explained that “It’s a problem that exploded nationwide. Several cities have faced calls to defund the police. Others have slashed budgets due to COVID. More officers say they feel villainized like never before.”
In fact, NBC was responsible for some of that villainization. In November of last year, NBC was angry that sheriff’s deputies from Brevard County, Florida didn’t let a teen run them over with a car, killing the driver. And they openly scoffed at the fact cops were being targeted with shootings last summer and downplayed a cop getting shot in the face. And NBC’s Law and Order: Organized Crime portrayed cops as sadists out there targeting innocent people.
The network was also a big proponent of defunding the police. In early June, they tried to use Orwellian doublespeak to suggest “defund the police” didn’t mean defund the police. And they thought it was unusual that President Trump continued to defend the police.
“A survey of about 200 police departments finds that retirements are up 45 percent, and resignations 18 percent, when compared with the previous year,” Gutierrez went on to note. “Sargent Jake Verhalen in Folsom, California says Floyd's death has rippled across smaller departments like his where recruiting new officers is getting much harder.”
Perhaps the struggle with retention and recruitment had to do with how cops were portrayed even when they did something heroic. Like when NBC deceptively edited a 911 call and refused to show a weapon to make it seem as though a Columbus, Ohio officer was not justified in killing a would-be stabber just inches away from taking a life.
Luckily, NewsBusters was on the case.
NBC hypocrisy and faux concern about the “Future of the Force” was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Consumer Cellular and Fidelity. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcripe is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC Nightly News
June 21, 2021
7:15:19 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: Now to our series, the “Future of the Force.” After a year of facing unrest, more and more police officers are leaving the job. And many say morale has plummeted. Gabe Gutierrez reports from Portland, Oregon.
[Cuts to video]
GABE GUTIERREZ: Night after night after night. The clashes in Portland were relentless. And many police officers felt targeted.
OFFICER 1: Morale is I think at an all-time low now.
GUTIERREZ: The precinct [Officer] works is still boarded up more than a year after George Floyd's murder.
OFFICER 1: We are being held responsible for the actions of an officer that's across the country, and I don't think that's fair.
GUTIERREZ: Since last July, at least 115 Portland officers left the force either by resigning or retiring. There are barely 800 left. Just last week, members of the city's rapid response team resigned from the unit after one officer was charged with excessive force during a protest last year.
Daryl Turner is the police union’s executive director that retired in January.
DARYL TURNER: We are dealing with rioting at a level and sustained violence that we have never seen. Gun violence in a city like we've never seen before. We’re looking at the most catastrophic staffing levels we've ever seen before.
GUTIERREZ: It’s a problem that exploded nationwide. Several cities have faced calls to defund the police. Others have slashed budgets due to COVID. More officers say they feel villainized like never before.
A survey of about 200 police departments finds that retirements are up 45 percent, and resignations 18 percent, when compared with the previous year.
SARGENT JAKE VERHALEN: We’ve reached a breaking point.
GUTIERREZ: Sargent Jake Verhalen in Folsom, California says Floyd's death has rippled across smaller departments like his where recruiting new officers is getting much harder.
VERHALEN: Some of it has to do with pay and benefits. But I think there's a bigger picture, that being this public discourse, if you will, against the police and some young people perhaps are asking themselves the question, “is that really a career path I want to go down?”
GUTIERREZ: In Richmond, Virginia, Officer Carol Adams is trying to mend relationships within her community. As a black woman, last year's protest felt even more personal.
OFFICER CAROL ADAMS: I am standing as a human being. I am processing as a human being.
(…)
ADAMS: You can't separate me, you make me one or the other. I’m both.
GUTIERREZ: That duality, even more drastic as many officers say within months they went from being considered heroes on the frontlines –
BLM PROTESTERS: These racist cops have got to go.
GUTIERREZ: -- to enemies.
OFFICER 1: It all boils down to three main concepts of being underfunded, understaffed, and undersupported.
GUTIERREZ: And now uncertainty about their future. Gabe Gutierrez, NBC News, Portland, Oregon.
