A former California sheriff’s deputy who left the force after being brutally attacked by a suspect gave future law enforcement a chilling warning, saying being a cop is ‘not worth it.’
Meagan McCarthy quit the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in 2022 after she was attacked by a suspect who beat her before gaining control of her gun and firing shots at the mother.
The man who attacked her in the 2019 incident, Ari Young, was acquitted of attempted murder and assault charges after a reform to the state’s jury selection process allowed those with an “expressed bias” against law enforcement to sit on the case, according to McCarthy.
Now the ex-cop is cautioning anyone considering joining the force to reconsider because lawmakers will not protect them.
‘It would be really hard for me to go and serve the institution of law enforcement, just because the politicians, the elected officials, our leaders do not have our backs,’ McCarthy told Fox News.
Meagan McCarthy warned future law enforcement officers that being a cop is ‘not worth it’ and progressive lawmakers will not protect them
McCarthy retired from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in 2022 after she was attacked by a suspect and said she hopes her kids never become cops
‘I do not think this job is worth it. With what happened to me, with a suspect trying to murder me and then the criminal justice system, the California court system and our California lawmakers, none of them for the last five years, I’ve seen have, your backs.
‘You have to worry about these leaders coming after you years down the road,’ she said. ‘We’re seeing all of these crazy woke district attorneys opening up cases years later.’
Police agencies across the country have been struggling to recruit new officers in recent years.
Following widespread calls for reforms that swept the nation following the murder of George Floyd, many departments had their funding cut.
Many cops feel legislatures have become ‘soft-on-crime’ which make their jobs harder to do and they are not protected.
‘It’s really hard to say why somebody should be a cop these days,’ McCarthy said.
McCarthy said cops have to worry about ‘woke’ district attorneys and elected officials that do ‘not have our backs’
‘Now you have to worry about you livelihood, is my family going to be able to afford a mortgage if something happens to me later down the line?’
When a jury acquitted her attacker, McCarthy said the justice system did not only let her down but it also set a ‘damaging’ precedent for police officers and victims everywhere.
‘Not only did I lose my job when the suspect tried to execute me, but out went my career, I can no longer contribute to our bills,’ she said.
Shocking video captured the September 4, 2019, incident when McCarthy was responding to a home on Cabazon Ct. in Victorville for a domestic disturbance.
The former San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy had responded to calls from a distressed mother in Victorville who pleaded with police to remove her son from her home.
McCarthy and Young were seen struggling before the man can be seen punching her multiple times in the face and head.
As McCarthy fell to the ground, Young grabbed the woman’s firearm and attempted to start shooting at the law enforcement official.
A jury acquitted the man who brutally attacked McCarthy by beating her then gaining control of her gun and firing shots at the mother in 2019
Shocking video captured the September 4, 2019, incident when McCarthy was responding to a home on Cabazon Ct. in Victorville for a domestic disturbance
Young proceeded to fire it at the officer multiple times as she attempts to run away.
The bullets fired at the McCarthy missed and she luckily escaped the incident without life-threatening injury. She was taken to hospital without serious injury.
On May 31, 2023 a jury acquitted Young – who suffers from schizophrenia – of the attempted murder charge, but did find him guilty of negligent discharge of a firearm.
‘If my boys or my daughter came to me and said “Mom, I want to be a cop” I would give them every reason not to be.’
‘I took a lot of pride in being a cop,’ she said. ‘I love serving the community, and I just wish that law enforcement was able to get that pendulum swinging back for them.’
