WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of law enforcement officers killed by firearms in the U.S. jumped by 56 percent this year and included 15 ambush assaults, according to a report released Tuesday.
The annual report by the nonprofit National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund found that 50 officers were killed by guns this year, compared to 32 in 2013.
In all, the report found that 126 federal, local, tribal and territorial officers were killed in the line of duty in 2014. That’s a 24 percent jump from last year’s 102 on-duty deaths. Shootings were the leading cause of officer deaths in 2014 followed by traffic-related fatalities, at 49.
The sharp increase in gun-related deaths among officers followed a dramatic dip in 2013, when the figure fell to levels not seen since the 19th century. This year’s uptick comes amid increased tension between police and the public following the high-profile deaths of unarmed black men by white police officers, including that of Eric Garner in New York and Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
The states that saw the most officer deaths were California, at 14, Texas, at 11, and New York, at nine. Florida followed with six deaths, and Georgia had five, according to the report.
The 15 ambush assaults on police officers this year compares to just five in 2013, but matched 2012 for the highest total since 1995, the report said.
“With the increasing number of ambush-style attacks against our officers, I am deeply concerned that a growing anti-government sentiment in America is influencing weak-minded individuals to launch violent assaults against the men and women working to enforce our laws and keep our nation safe,” said Craig Floyd, chairman and CEO of the memorial fund.
“Enough is enough,” he said in a statement. “We need to tone down the rhetoric and rally in support of law enforcement and against lawlessness.”
Among the ambush assaults were the fatal attacks on two police officers in New York City on Dec. 20. Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were gunned down in their patrol car by Ismaaiyl Brinsley after Brinsley had made threatening posts online, including a vow to put “wings on pigs” and references to the Garner and Brown cases.
After shooting the officers, Brinsley ran into a subway station and killed himself. Police said he was troubled and had shot and wounded an ex-girlfriend in Baltimore earlier that day.
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Read the report: www.LawMemorial.org/FatalitiesReport
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Police and Protestors have an opportunity with these shootings to address gun violence in the United States. Police unions and chiefs are usually very supportive of gun control, and the reduction of guns on the streets would make them less dangerous for citizens and cops.
I hope that someone in leadership on either side takes this chance to make a change.
My impression is that the anti-government movement in this country is pro-police, Craig. It’s the anti-police movement that you need to be aware of.
Hmmm. I’ll bet the murder of unarmed black men remained roughly the same.
But no one will even notice.
The anti-government party (Read Republican) is very pro-police because you can’t run a despotic state without them.
At least five cops were murdered from ambush this year by anti-government right wing extremists. Not that you’d know from reading anything the AP has ever written or listening to NYPD union reps or Rudy Giuliani.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/06/10/how-fox-news-covers-right-wing-cop-killers/199651
http://articles.philly.com/2014-09-18/news/54029927_1_enforcement-dickson-affidavit
-Update-but you’re absolutely right that authoritarian movement rightists tend to send mixed messages about the police when they’re out of power. On one hand, the nihilistic urge to destroy existing democratic institutions and everything that supports them tends to result in anti-police rhetoric whenever there’s any chance police power might be used against them, but the next day, they’ll flip to vitriolic agitation in support of the use of unrestrained force against whatever minority Others are their movement’s preferred scapegoats.