You're sitting in your living room watching TV, then you hear gunshots and then screams of terror outside your house. You peek through the curtains and see a person lying on the sidewalk. You pick up the phone and dial 911. You are calling the police for help, but you are told that there are no police officers available because your city is suffering from a financial crisis and they have laid off more than half of the police force. You think to yourself that this cannot be possible, you must be dreaming, you reiterate that a person has been hit by a bullet outside the house and needs help. The operator tells you that there is nothing he can do at the moment because all the agents are busy on other calls and for this you will have to wait. This scenario, however, could be extreme; right now throughout the United States, the financial crisis has affected law enforcement. Budget reductions are causing vacant positions in police departments to go unfilled while at the same time crime rates in several states are rising. The recession is not only affecting the United States financially, but it is also jeopardizing the safety of every person living in this country. Normally when we hear the word recession, we think of foreclosures, high gas prices, businesses going bankrupt, declining consumer spending, and let's not forget major job losses, like in factories, but most of us don't think about the loss of jobs. in the criminal justice sector. It's happening and it's not even a good thing. Crime rates are increasing, community safety is decreasing, and the risk of injury or death to officers is increasing. In 2011, the city of Camden, New Jersey, fired nearly half of its police force, leaving the crime-ridden city at the mercy of criminals. In North Carolina, pol...... middle of paper...... (September 20, 2013). Law officer. Retrieved from Navy Police Union: Staff cuts may have increased death toll in Navy Yard shooting: http://www.lawofficer.com/article/news/navy-police-union-staff-cuts-mShen, A. (2013, September 13). Think about progress. Excerpt from Police budget cuts leave rape victims waiting for hours: hinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/12/2612901/police-rape-response-times/US News-NBC News. (2012). Retrieved from Visit Detroit at Your Own Risk, Police Union Warns: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/08/14294269-visit-detroit-at-your-own-risk-police-union- warnsViolent Crime and economic crisis:. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.policeforum.org/library/critical-issues-in-policing-series/VCrimeEconomyII_v3.pdfWhen the Police Are Send Home... (2013). Excerpt from The Real Truth: http://realtruth.org/articles/110103-001-crime.html