I'd link an article, but googling 'police shortage' would seem to do the trick.
It's funny when people complain about HN being too US-centric, when in reality it's CA,NY/NJ, and MA centric. NJ is awash in money flowing from Wall St, so I don't feel bad that their cops make a decent wage.
Pay for officers in the US has only gone in one direction, and it's up. They have more resources than ever, more staff than ever. They are perhaps hit with Covid-related issues like everywhere, but "meh pay"? They're not teachers.
Or maybe you think everything has been terrible for the past 20 years. Maybe you think there's always been a police shortage.
I live in a small town outside of Portland and it's not bad, we haven't cut the funding for our police.