A former California Highway Patrol officer who retired to Idaho says he has never been happier after previously avoiding telling strangers what he did for a job.
Seth Horst left the Golden State and his law enforcement career to move with his family to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in 2020.
After starting a real estate business covering northern Idaho, Horst said he couldn’t believe the amount of support for law enforcement he witnessed.
Horst said Fox News that the term police officer seemed like a four-letter word to him when he had lived and worked in the Democratic stronghold state.
While attending Independence Day celebrations in Coeur d’Alene, he was impressed by the support for local authorities.
Seth Horst, pictured, left the Golden State and his law enforcement career to move with his family to Coeur d’Alene in Idaho in 2020.
While attending Independence Day celebrations in Coeur d’Alene, he was impressed by the support for local authorities, as seen here.
Speaking to the outlet, Horst said the Kottenai County sheriff was part of the parade and greeted residents from a pickup truck with a revolver pointed at his hip.
Cars, homes and businesses in the city also display the blue line flag year-round in a show of solidarity with officers.
According to Horst, it is not uncommon for people to offer to buy coffee for police officers when they see them on the street.
He told the outlet, “It’s very powerful that the men and women in uniform up here have that support.” “It’s a fantastic place to do work.”
Horst and his wife Kristen moved out of state because they felt they were losing freedoms around medical care and what was taught in schools.
He added: “My wife was really pushing, like, ‘Hey, we have to get out of here because California doesn’t feel safe anymore.’
“We felt like we were losing a lot of our freedoms in terms of medical freedom and choosing where our kids went to school, what happened at school, things like that.”
According to Horst, the area has become a haven for retired officers like him looking for a better way of life.
In a post on his social media, Horst said he was put on disability leave due to an on-duty injury that prevented him from wearing his duty belt and sitting for long periods.
According to Horst, it is not uncommon for people to offer to buy coffee for police officers when they see them on the street.
Horst and his wife Kristen, seen here, moved out of state because they felt they were losing freedoms around medical care and what was taught in schools.
In a post on his social media, Horst said he was discharged on disability due to an on-duty injury.
Horst said the Kottenai County sheriff was part of the Fourth of July parade and greeted residents from a pickup truck with a revolver against his hip. Here is a photo from last year’s parade.
He continued: ‘In my own experience of how many people I know who come from that background, it’s the highest concentration of former first responders than anywhere else in the US.
‘In the ’70s, LAPD officers began to be promoted after they retired. So I think that put that on the map. That’s just become a thing.
‘There are a lot of agents from the LAPD, from San Diego County, from the Sheriff’s Department, who have come here.
‘There are definitely some who are not happy with where they work right now, love the job and find that whatever state or city they work for, they can’t do the job.
‘The district attorney doesn’t have their back, there’s too much responsibility, so the department doesn’t allow them to enforce the law, which is their job. And that bothers a lot of people.
‘They get a job here, and often take a huge pay cut because the pay here doesn’t compare to many other states.
“But for them it’s worth it to raise their families in a safe place and with those old school values.”
Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell told the outlet: ‘They come to Idaho where they can enjoy their career and make a difference.
“They see that, in large part, our communities support law enforcement and public safety.”
Cities across the country suffered staff shortages following widespread anti-police protests in 2020.
Lovell said Idaho hasn’t been immune to those recruiting challenges; They saw an increase in the number of police requests from other states around that time.
The number of out-of-state agents doubled from 2019 to 2021, and although applications have slowed, they still remain above pre-2020 levels.
In addition to Idaho, California officers are also fleeing to Texas to escape “soft on crime” policies that they say have made their jobs “pointless.”
From rank-and-file officers to department heads they have attacked state lawmakers, claiming that a succession of “anti-law enforcement” policies have made their jobs impossible.
Overworked and lacking support, they have instead taken jobs in Texas and other states that are considered tough on crime.
Evan Leona, 38, who left his job as a detective in a multi-agency gang unit in Fresno, California, to work for the Denton police in Texas, in 2022, said he had met ‘over a hundred officers’ in Dallas/Fort Worth area who had fled California.
The number of law enforcement officers in California has dropped by more than 5,000 since 2019
“There are five officers who have come from various California agencies on my shift in Denton alone,” he told DailyMail.com. “The justice system just works much better here.”
It comes as the Golden State is losing thousands of police officers each year, with numbers down more than 5,000 since 2019.
There are now fears that high-crime California cities are suffering a law enforcement brain drain, leaving the public unprotected as criminals run rampant.
Many law enforcement officers blame controversial laws, including Propositions 47 and 57, for turning prisons into “revolving doors” and putting their lives at risk.
Liberal politicians have staunchly defended their policies, arguing that they have been misinterpreted and unfairly blamed for the rise in crime.
They say the goal of the reforms was to relieve pressure on the state’s overcrowded prisons and redirect police efforts toward more serious crimes.
Still, their efforts appear deeply unpopular among many who patrol the streets.
