Intentional attacks on police officers up 50% from last year
(NewsNation) — Intentional attacks on law enforcement are going up compared to this time last year in 2020, according to data from the Fraternal Order of Police.
The Fraternal Order of Police reported 141 officers were shot in the first five months of 2022, 21 of whom were killed. That number is up 10% from that time period in 2021, and 20% from this period in 2020.
So far this year, the FOP, which is a union representing officers across America, said there have been 27 ambush-style attacks on law enforcement. As a result of these attacks, 42 officers were shot, and six died.
Data released in May by the FBI showed the number of police officers intentionally killed in the line of duty reached a nearly 30-year high in 2021, with the exception of the 9/11 terror attacks. In 2021, 129 law enforcement officers were killed in line of duty incidents. Of these, 73 deaths were a result of a criminal act while 56 died in accidents.
One-third of the officers killed as a result of criminal acts died in what the FBI calls “unprovoked attacks,” meaning the violence came out of nowhere and without any warning.
“Every felonious attack on a law enforcement officer, especially by gunfire, is disturbing regardless of the circumstances,” the Fraternal Order of Police said in a monthly update. “Officers are always susceptible to life-threatening attacks and therefore must always be vigilant and maintain the highest level of situational awareness.”
Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes has previously told NewsNation that these attacks are moving many departments into “crisis mode,” where fewer people want to do the job, even as more are needed to fill empty roles left by those retiring.
“Our profession is struggling, it’s dying,” he said.