Chicago (AFP) - Police forces in the United States are seeing increased sick-leave and early retirement, as well as an uptick in resignations and even suicides, as accusations of violence and racism take a hit on the morale of already stressed-out officers.

Rick Nigro, a 27-year veteran of the Chicago police force, has never seen such desperation in his colleagues, whose duties are inherently dangerous and depressing by nature.

"I see it in their faces at roll call," he said.

Some of the former-military officers have seen more traumatizing events "than they saw in Fallujah" during the war in Iraq, Nigro said, confessing that he would not sign up for the force again were he to go back in time.

Murders are on the rise in the United States and particularly in Chicago: In 2020 a total of 769 homicides occurred in the city, which is the third most populous US city.

With three suicides on the force since January, Nigro took the unusual step of writing a public letter to the police superintendent and mayor.

Police forces across the United States, totaling approximately 800,000 officers nationwide, are facing scathing criticism for excessive use of force against Black Americans, an issue visible everywhere from Black Lives Matter protests in the streets to Sunday's Oscars awards ceremony.

"Today the police will kill three people. And tomorrow the police will kill three people. And the day after that, the police will kill three people," director Travon Free said during his Oscars acceptance speech for his drama "Two Distant Strangers" about a Black man's deadly encounter with a police officer.

"Because on average the police in America every day kill three people, which amounts to about a thousand people a year. And those people happen to disproportionately be Black people," Free said.

Chicago Alderman Matt O'Shea's 19th Ward on the city's far South Side is home to more active and retired police officers than any other.

"It's sad and frustrating that we continue to see so much of the public turning against law enforcement, the very people who put their lives on the line each and every day to protect us," O'Shea said.

Forty-six police officers were killed in 2020 in the line of duty -- excluding accidents -- and 22 since the beginning of 2021, according to government figures.

Because of the risk involved in their work, US police officers have held a relatively positive place in the American psyche for decades, particularly among whites. 

But the image began to crumble with the proliferation of video recordings of violence against generally Black Americans -- teenagers riddled with bullets, suspects shot in the back and innocent people killed by mistake.

"Today people see stories about bad incidents and think it's all police officers," said William Jaconetti, a retired Chicago Police sergeant who was involved in five shooting incidents over his 40-year career.

"In many cases, guys don't want to draw their guns, even when they can save lives," Jaconetti said.

The number of officers have shrunk on police forces in the cities where the most publicized instances of police brutality have occurred.

In Minneapolis, where a white policeman was found guilty of killing African-American George Floyd after kneeling on his neck, more than 100 of the force's 1,000 officers left in 2020 -- twice as many as the previous year. 

In addition 150 officers are currently on leave, including for post-traumatic stress disorder.

'Bad situation'

And now, police academies are having trouble attracting new recruits.

"Hiring and recruiting across the United States in law enforcement is proving to be extremely challenging," Louisville Police Chief Erika Shields said recently.

"We have numerous self inflicted wounds that have made our product unappealing, period," she added.

In the latest sign of a crisis of confidence, the federal government has opened investigation to flush out possible abuse and discrimination within law enforcement forces in the cities of Louisville and Minneapolis, with more to potentially follow.

It is not surprising that many agents are grumbling, said John Garrido, a 30-year veteran of the Chicago police force, who has called for mandatory quarterly counseling for officers.

"This is a job we volunteered for, that we took, so it is what it is in some regards," he said. 

"But, you've got the horrible things we see on a daily basis -- the rage, the murders, the sadness. Then add on top of that the outside stuff, the media, the politicians and it's a recipe for a bad situation."