A Kentucky brewery owner called Thursday for an increase in police patrols after a thief broke into his business and caused $17,000 in damage.
"I think we were one of about seven or eight businesses hit," Ted Mitzlaff, CEO of Louisville's Goodwood Brewery, said on "Fox & Friends First" Thursday.
"He tried to enter on main street – we have hurricane glass there – he fragmented the glass, but wasn't able to get in."
Mitzlaff told host Todd Piro that the thief went around to the side of the building and breached a door that was not as "secure" before running away with money and alcohol.
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"It's quite unbelievable," he added. "Really, over the last couple of years, we've seen a huge exodus of the police from the police department mainly due to lack of support from the administration in office and the anti-police sentiment."
Mitzlaff said the community is down by approximately 300 police officers, and the officers who arrived at the scene had been working double shifts. He said he was told it would likely be a week to 10 days before a detective would be able to come to the location and begin an investigation.
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"We still haven't heard from a detective," he said.
River City FOP Lodge 6614 Press Secretary Dave Mutchler said the law enforcement exodus began in 2018 and accelerated through the pandemic.
"It's terrible. It's due to the anti-police culture that we have now and the lack of support from government and from the administration," he said. "We need about 1,600 officers in this police department, and we're at just about 1,000 right now."
Mutchler added that responding to crimes like the one that affected Goodwood Brewery are especially difficult considering the police force's reduced "manpower."
"Our profession is dying," he added, ", and it's going to continue that way. It's not going to get better unless we step up, and we do something to stop that and ensure we have folks that want to come to the job."
