Two police officers died and 11 others were wounded in shootings over a 24-hour period across four states Friday.
“This is what we call the war on cops,” Betsy Brantner Smith, spokeswoman for the National Police Association and a 29-year police veteran who trains officers, told Fox News Digital.
“[W]e are constantly attacked, and we are either attacked doing very simple things — traffic stop, responding to a 911 call, a domestic. All of that.”
The incidents happened in Arizona, Maryland, New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Here are some details:
Arizona: 9 officers shot
Nine police officers, including two who later died, were wounded during a Friday morning shootout in Phoenix while responding to a domestic dispute. Police initially responded to a report of a woman shot at a home in the area of 51st Avenue and Elwood Street. The now-detained suspect invited the officers inside before allegedly opening fire and striking one of the officers multiple times, police officials said.
Photos from the scene show the suspect bringing out a baby during the standoff. Four officers were shot while moving to rescue the baby.
(ONSCENE.TV)
Maryland: 2 police officers shot
Later Friday afternoon, two police officers were shot and wounded in Frederick, Maryland, while responding to calls of a suspicious person. The suspect was also shot during the incident, and Maryland officials transported him to a nearby hospital.
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New Mexico: 1 state trooper shot
A New Mexico State Police officer was also shot and wounded Friday afternoon while pursuing a vehicle that rammed into his police vehicle.
Pennsylvania: 1 SWAT officer shot
On Friday evening, a Philadelphia SWAT officer was shot while serving a drug warrant at an apartment building. A suspect inside the apartment allegedly fired two shots through the wall, striking the lead officer in his body armor, FOX 29 Philadelphia reported.
More police officers were killed in the line of duty in 2021 than any previous year since 1995. While officer line-of-duty deaths reached record highs beginning in 2020 due to COVID-19, killings of officers are also up, according to the FBI’s law enforcement officers killed in action (LEOKA) data.
59% increase
In 2021, the FBI counted 73 officers intentionally killed in the line of duty. That’s a nearly 59% increase compared to the 46 intentionally killed in 2020.
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The last time more than 72 officers were killed was in 1995, when 74 officers were intentionally killed on the job, according to LEOKA data. The next highest number of officers intentionally killed on duty was 72 in 2011, according to LEOKA data analyzed in a report by the Heartland Institute.
That number was 55 in 2012; 27 in 2013; 51 in 2014; 41 in 2015; 66 in 2016; 46 in 2017; 56 in 2018; and 48 in 2019.
Family members of NYPD Officer Wilbert Mora react after receiving a flag from the honor guard following Mora’s funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Feb. 2, 2022, in New York City.
(Associated Press)
While American law enforcement officers “have always known” the risk of putting on a badge, nearly two years of anti-police rhetoric is not helping police or criminals, Brantner Smith said.
“When you constantly tell people that this one entity — somebody in a blue or a bright green uniform — is dangerous to you and that you should resist them, of course we’re going to have increased attacks on law enforcement,” she explained. “And, unfortunately, not only has it become a big media issue, but it’s become a huge political issue.”
Progressive policies to blame?
Branter Smith and former New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir pointed to progressive bail reform and prosecution policies that have allowed repeat offenders to be released from prison and back into their communities without vetting.
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“The message that politicians and district attorneys have been sending to criminals is you can commit crimes with impunity,” Safir said. “And since they’re not doing stop, question and frisk anymore, criminals are emboldened to carry guns now that they would not have before. And it’s just a downward cycle into chaos.”
Then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, right, speaks as New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir looks on during a news conference in an undated photo. Safir served as commissioner from 1996 to 2000.
(Reuters)
Violent crime in general across major U.S. cities has increased over the past two years.
Murders up 44%
Murders across 22 major U.S. cities increased 44% in 2021 compared to 2019 and 5% compared to 2020. There were 218 more murders in the 22 cities in 2021, according to updated findings from the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), a nonpartisan criminal justice policy organization.
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As for other forms of violent crime, CCJ reported an 8% increase in gun assaults, a 4% rise in aggravated assaults and a 1% surge in robbery rates after robberies dropped in 2020. The organization noted reports of carjackings and train robberies that became more prevalent in 2021. Domestic violence also increased 4% since 2020 in 11 cities.
The violent crime on top of anti-police rhetoric is making officers in those cities want to move to smaller departments or leave law enforcement entirely, Branter Smith said. As a result, some of the largest departments in the country are experiencing staffing shortages, which, in turn, makes it more difficult for officers to respond to calls and combat crime.
Fox News’ Stephanie Pagones, Louis Casiano and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
