Police union head says attacks, rhetoric hurting recruitment
(NewsNation) — The number of police officers killed in the line of duty is on the rise, with 101 officers shot, including 17 fatally, so far this year. Included in those numbers are 32 law enforcement officers shot in 19 separate ambush-style attacks.
And compared to the number of ambush attacks to recent years, the increase is staggering: they’re up 43 percent from last year and 63 percent from 2020.
Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes says attacks and anti-police sentiment are moving many departments into a “crisis mode,” as fewer people are willing to do the job, while at the same time, more are needed to fill roles left empty by retiring officers.
“We need to attract our best and brightest in order to be able to keep officers coming into this profession, and all this rhetoric, all of these things that are happening to us, are not helpful,” Yoes said. “Our profession is struggling, it’s dying.”