TN Police Officer Quits Citing Public Wishes To See Cops 'Dead'

WINCHESTER, TN – A Winchester police officer is leaving the force after 10 years on the job, saying in a video posted on social media that he "just can't take it anymore."

In a video posted to Facebook on Tuesday, Officer Dustin Elliott said the decision to leave the force was difficult while describing the weight of being a police officer .

"I just can't take it any more," he said in the video. "I'm done with it."

Speaking for almost five minutes, Elliott shared his perspective on policing in America in today's climate.

"I thought long and hard about whether or not I should even make a video, but I feel like that today we all kinda need to understand where law enforcement is and the crusade against us that is weighing on every officer's heart in America right now," he said.

"It's devastating to be a police officer right now, and to know what's going on and how people feel about you and the things that you do in this job, the sacrifices that you make," Elliott added. "There's a lot that would rather see you dead just because of the uniform that you wear."

Across the country, thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, leading to both immediate and proposed changes to police forces nationwide. These changes include court-ordered structural changes in Minneapolis, the strike-down of a decades-old New York law that has kept law enforcement officers' disciplinary records secret and internal investigations at the Los Angeles Police Department and others into police brutality against demonstrators.

Elliott said there are a lot of sacrifices that officers and their families have to make as part of the job. He said he has spent the past decade unable to enjoy time with his family because he constantly worries about bad things happening to his children, his wife or his parents.

"Being married to a cop is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world," he said. "You don't know the torment that they go through, wondering if their loved ones are going to come home or if today is going to be the day they're going to tell their kids that their dad didn't come home or their mother isn't coming home, they're going to have to live without them."

While becoming a police officer was the best decision he has made, Elliott said, he realized it is time to move on.

"It takes its toll on you," he said in the video. "But at some point you say it's enough. And I'm at that point. I've had enough."