Law enforcement officers in areas primarily run by Democrats continue to flock to red states for job security, better pay and bosses who will back them up, according to one police leader.

Joe Gamaldi is the national vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). He is an active lieutenant with the Houston Police Department, and he said police in blue cities are tired of facing hostility from local leaders. 

“What we’ve seen is really a mass exodus of police officers leaving far-left cities for basically greener pastures,” he told Fox News Digital. 

“Because, ultimately, people want to feel appreciated for what they do. And when you have a boss — in this case, mayors or city councils, who regularly call you a piece of crap to the public — why would anyone stay?

“I mean, my goodness, right now, one of the mayoral candidates for New York has actively said he wants to defund and dismantle the police department,” Gamaldi said, referring to socialist Zohran Mamdani, who has been open with his anti-police rhetoric. 

Blue cities, Gamaldi said, are worse off for driving out their police forces.

Police in riot gear surround the Arizona Capitol after protesters reached the front of the Arizona Senate building in reaction to the Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision June 24, 2022, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

“Look at the mass exodus of experience in solving cases and experience of just mentoring the next generation of police officers,” he said. “I mean, the damage that was done in 2020 with the defund the police movement, rhat’s going to reverberate for decades. You don’t just recover from something like that when you have all of that experience walking out the door.”

He also pointed to better pay and other financial perks, like cities covering moving expenses, as reasons law enforcement officers are moving away from far-left areas.

Blue cities are worse off for not supporting their police officers, Gamaldi said. (Getty Images)

Ultimately, he posed a question to those who patrol the streets where they are unappreciated, saying, “Why not leave?”

“To anyone watching this right now,” Gamaldi said, “if your boss was constantly telling you [that] you’re doing a horrible job, and, in addition, if you were following the exact policies, training and the law of your job, and yet they are still demonizing you, still throwing you under the bus, still trying to indict you, why the hell would you stay?”