So far in 2016, law enforcement officers across the country have found themselves targets of deadly ambush attacks.
Since 2000, there have been about 9.5 ambush killings of officers per year, but this year that number is already at 5, according to The Washington Post.
Within the span of about a month, Harford County Sheriff's Deputies Sheriffs Patrick Dailey and Mark Logsdon (Feb. 10), Prince William County Officer Ashley Guindon (Feb. 27), Euless Officer David Stefan Hofer (March 1) and Prince George's County Officer Jacai Colson (March 13) after all died as the result of an ambush attack.
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, there are roughly 59,000 assaults on police officers each year, resulting in more than 15,000 injuries. About 50 officers a year are killed in criminal incidents -- excluding car wrecks and other incidents.
In 2013, The International Association of Chiefs of Police published a study specifically analyzing ambushes of law enforcement officers and found that the average ambushed officer is a 38-year-old male with 11 years on the job. Of those killed, 38 percent were patrol officers, 17 percent were deputy sheriffs and 15 percent sergeants -- all the most likely to be first responders to any call.
Another statistic up drastically is a 225 percent increase from last year in firearms-related fatalities for law enforcement. There were four at this point in 2015 compared to 13 so far this year.
"There's a great deal of anger out there that's, generally speaking, focused at government. As highly visible representatives of government, police officers bear the brunt of it," James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, told the newspaper.
Pasco said that the lack of action by public officials has frustrated rand-and-file officers in departments throught the country.
"Are we going to quit doing our jobs? No. But it's always easier when you feel the community and elected officials have your back."
President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Wellesley, Mass. Police Chief Terry Cunningham, told the newpapaer that "there is clearly that anti-police rhetoric that’s out there, which escalated to a level where people feel they can act with a level of violence up to homicide against police officers"
Cunningham said that while the majority of people still support police, they need to come out and speak their mind and object to the level of violence being waged against law enforcement officers.
