THE WAR ON COPS THAT BARACK OBAMA STARTED

Police are being ambushed, killed across the nation, law enforcement group says

 

By Josh Campbell

 

CNN

October 17, 2022

 

 

A medical examiner’s van exits Houston's Memorial Hermann Hospital transporting an ambushed Harris County deputy who was shot and killed to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences on Saturday  

 

A disturbing trend is emerging across the U.S. as police officers are becoming targets in the line of duty, being ambushed and killed.

Just last week, three Philadelphia officers were shot in the line of duty. So far, 2022 has been an especially violent and deadly year for law enforcement across the country.

“I’m outraged. I’m disgusted,” said Danielle Outlaw, Philadelphia’s police commissioner. “I’m wondering where the level of outrage and upset is outside of the law enforcement community.”

Across the country, there have been 252 officers shot in the line of duty through September of this year, according to the National Fraternal Order of Police. Of those 252, 50 were killed.

Right now, things are wrong because the level of violence that we’re seeing against our law enforcement officers is just beyond outrageous,” Outlaw said.

The violent trend continues to rise, according to the FOP.

During the same time period last year, 44 officers were killed by gunfire in the line of duty. That number adds up to officers being fatally shot more often than once a week during that time period.

In El Monte, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, two officers were killed this summer as they responded to a call about a stabbing.

“They were acting as a first line of defense for our community members when they were essentially ambushed,” El Monte Mayor Jessica Ancona said.

In fact, there have been 63 ambush-style attacks on law enforcement through September of this year, according to the FOP. At least 93 officers were shot during those onslaughts, and 24 of them died as a result.

In Bristol, Connecticut, last week, three officers were allegedly ambushed and shot. Only one survived. Investigators said the gunman may have lured them by making a false 911 call.

In 2021, data from the FBI showed the highest number of law enforcement officers intentionally killed in the line of duty since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 20 years before.

The data mirrors a rise in gun violence in many parts of the country in recent years, now rising to levels not seen since the mid-1990s.

Last week, a responding officer in Raleigh, North Carolina, was injured in a shooting involving a teenage gunman that left five people dead.

The increasing violence against police has law enforcement leaders across the country sounding the alarm.

 

                      A gunman takes aim at a Philadelphia police officer Jan. 7, 2016, in a still taken from police camera footage.

 

Outlaw said when she learns of officers under her being shot, it’s “a pit in your stomach.”

“These are folks that answered a call to serve,” she said. “They want to give back.”

She said officers who sign up to do the jobs understand the potential risk to their lives, but recently it has been too much.

“We did not sign up for these jobs to be martyrs,” she said. “We just didn’t.”

Law enforcement leaders are not only concerned about their own people, they’re also concerned the recent wave of violence might impact recruitment, which they said could impact public safety for years to come.