ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Thirty one police officers in the western North Carolina city of Asheville have resigned from the force since June.
Police Chief David Zack told The Citizen Times on Thursday that the number is “unprecedented.”
The resignations amount to loss of more than one sworn officer for every ten in the force of 283 - or 13% of the force.
Zack attributed the departures to a lack of support and a “very vocal” opposition to law enforcement following the death of a Black man in Minneapolis police custody earlier this year.
But proponents of a local movement to defund police say that they have been the victims of violence for centuries.
