More than 100,000 law enforcement officers have been attacked on the job in the last two years, and more were killed in the last three years compared to any other period within the last 20 years, FBI statistics show.
A shocking 194 officers were feloniously killed between 2021 and 2023 — more than in any other consecutive three-year period in the past two decades — a special report that the FBI released on Tuesday revealed.
Law enforcement agencies around the country reported to the bureau that a total of 79,091 officers were assaulted in 2023, marking the highest officer assault rate in the past decade.
The top two most common circumstances during which these assaults occurred were when cops responded to simple assaults against non-officers and when cops responded to drug violations.
So far in 2024, 12 law enforcement officers have been feloniously killed, and 21 were killed in accidents in the line of duty, according to recent data.
The special report was released during National Police Week, as police groups raise awareness for the uptick in violence cops have been facing while doing their jobs.
Retired Lt. Randy Sutton, the founder of the Wounded Blue, said to the National Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat:
The reality is that the dehumanization of law enforcement that’s taking place over the last few years — the defunding of law enforcement and the demonizing of law enforcement by political elites, by the media by “activists” who have pushed a policy of not supporting law enforcement in meaningful ways.
“What this means is that law enforcement officers are afraid to defend themselves.”
Sutton’s Las Vegas-based organization works to support injured cops and their families by fighting for worker’s compensation, providing health support, and advocating for stronger legislation.
“That number of 79,000 law enforcement officers being physically assaulted in 2023 is a sharp, sharp increase from previous years,” Sutton told the outlet. “Many of these attacks wind up in disabling injuries or serious injuries, which can have dramatic effects on the life [and] on the mental and physical well-being of these law enforcement officers.”
