According to preliminary statistics released by the FBI, 51 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2014, an increase of almost 89% over the previous year, when 27 officers were killed.
By circumstance, 11 officers died from injuries inflicted as a result of answering disturbance calls (one of which was a domestic disturbance). Ten officers were conducting traffic pursuits or stops, eight were killed as a result of ambushes (six due to entrapment/premeditated situations and two during unprovoked attacks), and six officers were investigating suspicious persons or circumstances. Five officers sustained fatal injuries while they were performing investigative activities, four while they were engaged in tactical situations, three officers were handling persons with mental illness, and one officer was slain during a drug-related matter. Three officers were killed while attempting other arrests.
Offenders used firearms in 46 of the 51 felonious deaths. These included 32 incidents with handguns, 11 incidents with rifles, and three incidents with shotguns. Four victim officers were killed with vehicles used as weapons, and one was killed with the offender’s personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.).
Thirty-five of the slain officers were confirmed to be wearing body armor at the times of the incidents. Five of the 51 officers killed fired their own weapons, and six officers attempted to fire their service weapons. Seven victim officers had their weapons stolen; one officer was killed with his own weapon.
An additional 44 cops were accidentally killed in 2014. While this statistic at first blush sounds comparatively benign — accidents, after all, do happen — what this number underscores is the danger police face every time they don their uniforms. They are risking their all to keep us civilians safe.
Yet, the mainstream media are obsessed solely with the people killed by the police. Never mind that in the vast majority of cases the cops are cleared of wrongdoing. Instead consider that when they are cleared, they become the target of a federal civil rights investigation brought by race-fixated Obama Justice Department.
Yes there are bad cops, but they are few and far between. Why are we concentrating on prejudging each and every police officer who is suspected of malfeasance and ignoring those who risk their lives each and every day to protect us and our families? Why are the rare cases of an officer doing wrong front page national news while most of the time the death of a cop gets little mention?
Over the weekend, two more police officers, Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate, were gunned down in Hattiesburg, Miss. And although the story was covered by the national media, in a week or so it will be gone, while the sagas of Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner remain.
Cross-posted at The Lid
