{"id":18122,"date":"2016-12-30T05:18:26","date_gmt":"2016-12-30T05:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=18122"},"modified":"2016-12-30T05:18:26","modified_gmt":"2016-12-30T05:18:26","slug":"officer-down-police-deaths-hit-a-5-year-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/officer-down-police-deaths-hit-a-5-year-high.html","title":{"rendered":"Officer down: Police deaths hit a 5-year high"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Officer down: Police deaths hit a 5-year high<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Officer down: Police deaths hit a 5-year high:-<\/strong> The number of U.S. police officers killed in the line of duty hit a five-year high in 2016 \u2014 and there were more ambush-style attacks than in the past two decades, according to statistics released Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The grim numbers, outlined in a preliminary report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, show that this year’s 135 fatalities were a 10% increase over the 123 officers who died in the line of duty last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The report comes as police-community tensions remain at fever pitch across the nation. The shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., two years ago thrust police-involved shootings into the spotlight and launched Black Lives Matter protests into a national movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

As those tensions escalated in the past year, officers became targets. In July, five cops were stalked and killed in Dallas by a heavily armed sniper who opened fire at a peaceful protest. In Baton Rouge less than two weeks later, three officers were gunned down and three others wounded in an ambush.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

Ambush-style killings of police up 167% this year<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gun-related incidents were the top cause of death, according to the memorial fund report, with 64 officers shot and killed. Of the 64, 21 were the result of ambush attacks, the report says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Twenty officers died in eight multiple-shooting death incidents in 2016, including the Dallas and Baton Rouge attacks, tying with 1971 for the highest total of any year since 1932, the report said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Public safety is a partnership and, too often, the service and sacrifice of our law enforcement professionals is taken for granted,” Craig Floyd, president and chief executive of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, said in a statement. “We must never forget that 900,000 law enforcement officers nationwide risk their lives every day for our safety and protection. And, this year, 135 of those men and women did not make it home to their families at the end of their shift.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Other statistics from the report on 2016 fatalities:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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  • Texas had the highest number of officer fatalities with 17, followed by California with 10, Louisiana with nine, Georgia with eight and Michigan with six.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • \u00a053 officers were killed in traffic-related incidents, which was 10% more than the 48 deaths in 2015.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • \u00a0Six of the fatalities were female officers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2016\/12\/29\/officer-down-police-deaths-hit-5-year-high\/95984998\/<\/span><\/div>\n

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