A MISSOURI police chief and all his officers “unexpectedly” resigned due to lack of resources while the city tries to find replacements.

The reasons given by the employees of the Kimberling City Police Department were the lack of qualified officers and the desire for a new career.

Five employees in the department quit within a few weeksPhoto credit: ozarksfirst

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Chief Craig Alexander resigned in late AugustPhoto credit: Linkedin

Former chief Craig Alexander told the city’s mayor that he wanted a new challenge and would like to improve when he submitted his resignation in late August. according to Ozarks First.

He is slated to be relocated to the nearby Branson West Police Department.

Sergeant Aaron Hoeft resigned this week, saying it was “impossible” to do well with the Kimberling City Police Department in the form it is in.

“Unfortunately, it is inevitable that there are no qualified officers at the current salary rate and no police officer who can help manage this department,” said of his reasoning.

Three officers, Shaun McCafferty, Rutger House and Caleb McCarty, also submitted their resignation in early September.

Bob Fritz, the mayor of Kimberling, said KY3 that the departures were “unexpected” and called the short-term announcement by the police officers “disappointing”.

To Kimberling City, a small town in the south Missouri, resigns his police department, the Stone County Sheriff’s office will handle his calls.

“It will be a struggle to recruit qualified officers to the police department, but hopefully they can get started soon and achieve this,” said Doug Rader, the sheriff, told KY3.

Sheriff Rader also pointed out that many US law enforcement agencies are currently suffering from staff shortages due to the current law enforcement climate.

Studies suggest that police officers are much more likely to quit or retire lately.

A recent survey found a 45 percent increase in the retirement rate and a nearly 20 percent increase in police terminations in 2020-2021 compared to the previous year, according to the Research forum for police executives.

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The city is trying to replace the police officersPhoto credit: ozarksfirst