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Suzanimal
12-30-2014, 10:49 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of law enforcement officers killed by firearms jumped by 56 percent this year and included 15 ambush deaths. But gun-related police deaths still remain far below historic highs and lower than the average annual figures in the past decade, 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. That's far higher than the 32 such deaths last year but the same as 2012 figures.

In 2011, 73 officers were killed in gunfire, the most in any year in the past decade. The average since 2004 is 55 police deaths annually.

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, though below the average annual figures since 2004 and the all-time high of 156 in 1973, said Steve Groeninger, a spokesman for the memorial fund.

Of the 126 officer deaths this year, shootings were the leading cause, followed by traffic-related fatalities, at 49.

This year's 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," said Craig Floyd, chairman and CEO of the memorial fund.

He added in his 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 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.

Read the report: www.LawMemorial.org/FatalitiesReport



Read more: http://www.cbs46.com/story/27727718/report-police-gun-deaths-up-still-below-average#ixzz3NOtuHOD1

JK/SEA
12-30-2014, 10:59 AM
Firearms-related incidents were the
leading cause of death among law
enforcement officers in 2014. Firearms related
fatalities accounted for 50
deaths, increasing 56 percent from 2013
when 32 officers were killed.

Traffic-related incidents were the
second leading cause of officer deaths
in 2014, killing 49 officers. Thirty-five
officers died in automobile crashes, nine
officers were struck and killed outside
their vehicle and five officers were killed
in motorcycle crashes. Traffic-related
fatalities increased 11 percent from
2013 when 44 officers
were killed.

KCIndy
12-30-2014, 11:11 AM
Statistically, the numbers are pointless unless we can determine the total number of active police officers on the rolls in 2014.

In other words, if there was a spate of "More Cops On the Street!" hiring in late 2013, and the number of cops on the roster went from one million in 2014 to one and a half million in 2014, (representing a fifty percent increase) one would naturally expect the numerical count of police deaths to follow that upward trend.

The telling statistic would be to determine the number of deaths per 100,000 officers in 2013 vs. 2014.

Danke
12-30-2014, 11:13 AM
Avg. 3 people a day are killed by cops.

Dr.3D
12-30-2014, 11:18 AM
"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," said Craig Floyd, chairman and CEO of the memorial fund.

Maybe if we didn't have as many laws, fewer officers would be needed to enforce them.

navy-vet
12-30-2014, 10:02 PM
Maybe if we didn't have as many laws, fewer officers would be needed to enforce them.
As usual, some more good old common sense from our esteemed colleague!;)

phill4paul
12-30-2014, 10:28 PM
Avg. 3 people a day are killed by cops.

In a nation of 300+ million it just shows how trivial it is. If my 85 yr. old dad was to be beaten down by cops tomorrow it's just a statistical anomaly. In the scheme of things his death would mean less than nothing.

Suzanimal
01-05-2015, 06:56 AM
FBI chief Comey says at Liu's funeral that number of 2014 police deaths is 'shocking'

FBI Director James Comey on Sunday honored murdered New York City Police Officer Wenjian Liu and remarked that he was shocked and bewildered by the increased number of police officer deaths in 2014.

“One hundred and fifteen were killed last year,” he said. “That’s a shocking increase from 2013. I don’t understand evil and I cannot try.”

Comey was the highest-ranking Obama administration official to attend Liu’s memorial service at a Brooklyn funeral home.

Liu was killed Dec. 20 with fellow Officer Rafael Ramos inside their police car in Brooklyn.

The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who killed himself after the murders, suggested on social media before carrying out the deadly shooting that the killings were in retaliation for two unarmed black males -- Eric Garner and Michael Brown -- dying last year during separate encounters with police.

The FBI report on officers killed last year was released before the deaths of Liu and Ramos, though similar reports show about 115 to 120 officers killed in the line of duty, including about 50 by a firearm. The agency’s 2013 report states 76 law enforcement officers were killed while on duty.

Though numbers vary among similar reports, including how many officers were fatally shot, all appear to show an increase since 2013 and a decline since the historical highs of past decades.

Vice President Biden spoke Dec. 27 at Ramos’ memorial service at the Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens.

On Sunday, Comey said he came to Liu’s memorial to “honor a peace maker” and that Americans need to “make something good out of the tragedy … so that evil does not rule the day.”

The event also was attended by thousands of police officers and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The 32-year-old Liu also was remembered as an incarnation of the American Dream. He emigrated from China at 12 and devoted himself to helping others in his adopted country.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/04/fbi-chief-comey-says-at-liu-funeral-that-number-2014-police-deaths-is-shocking/?intcmp=trending