Shootings of police rise in 2014 as some officers fear for safety

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Public anger at law enforcement following several highly publicized controversies involving the shootings of unarmed civilians by police officers in the U.S. have many police departments throughout the nation worried about officer safety. A report released Tuesday by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) detailing a rise in the number of officers killed in 2014 is likely to worsen the problem.

The NLEOMF report states that 50 officers were shot to death in the U.S. in 2014, up from 32 in 2013. The report goes on to note that the majority of officers killed in 2014 were ambushed.

“Of the 50 firearms-related fatalities in 2014, fifteen officers were shot and killed in ambush, more than any other circumstance of fatal shootings in 2014,” according to the report.

The statistics have led to calls for politicians and pundits to cool anti-police rhetoric in the U.S.

“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 and keep our nation safe,” NLEOMF Chairman and CEO Craig W. Floyd said in a statement Tuesday. “Enough is enough. We need to tone down the rhetoric and rally in support of law enforcement and against lawlessness.”

In New York City, the ambush assassination of two NYPD officers on Dec. 20 has provided an example of how some law enforcement agencies who feel they lack proper support from local governments could handle perceived increases in threats to their safety.

The shooter, who dispatched himself after killing the NYPD officers, had written online that he was avenging the deaths of unarmed black men killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York earlier in the year.

Prior to the officer shootings, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio expressed support for anti-police protesters in the city and made other remarks disparaging the police.

As a result, New York police unions encouraged officers to adopt new practices, including responding to every call with at least two units and making arrests “only when they have to.”

The New York Post reports that policing in the city has taken a “nose dive” and NYPD arrests have fallen by 66 percent since Dec. 22 compared to this time last year.

Via the Post:

Citations for traffic violations fell by 94 percent, from 10,069 to 587, during that time frame.

Summonses for low-level offenses like public drinking and urination also plunged 94 percent — from 4,831 to 300.

Even parking violations are way down, dropping by 92 percent, from 14,699 to 1,241.

Drug arrests by cops assigned to the NYPD’s Organized Crime Control Bureau — which are part of the overall number — dropped by 84 percent, from 382 to 63.

But while Americans throughout the country — and especially those living in high crime areas — likely don’t want to see significant drops in community policing similar to those occurring in New York, there is still growing public consensus that law enforcement in the U.S. should change some policies.

In a recent Washington Post poll, 86 percent of Americans called for all police officers to be outfitted with body cameras while on duty. About the same number — 87 percent — believe that officers accused of wrongdoing be charged by prosecutors independent of their local jurisdictions.

Personal Liberty

Sam Rolley

After covering news and politics for traditional media outlets, Sam Rolley took a position at Personal Liberty Media Group where he focuses on his true passions: national politics and liberty issues. In his daily columns and reports, Rolley works to help readers recognize lies perpetuated by the mainstream media and develop a better understanding of issues ignored by more conventional outlets. Follow him on Twitter @SamRolley