43% Increase in Police Officers Shot in Line of Duty This Year

The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the world’s largest organization of law enforcement officers, has counted 101 officers shot in the line of duty as of April 1, including 17 fatally, so far in 2022.

The latest figure marks a 43% increase compared to the number of officers shot at the same time period in 2021 and a 63% increase compared to 2020, FOP reports.

“We are in the midst of a real crisis. The violence directed at law enforcement officers is unlike anything I’ve seen in my 36 years of law enforcement,” National FOP President Patrick Yoes said in a Friday statement. “Last year was one of the most dangerous years for law enforcement, with more officers shot in the line of duty since the National Fraternal Order of Police began recording this data.”

He added that FOP’s data so far in 2022 indicates that “we are outpacing last year’s numbers of officers shot and killed in the line of duty.”

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“It is important to remember that when we look at these numbers, they represent people who are fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters,” he said. “We must also be aware that the lethality of these attacks would be much greater but for dramatic improvements in medical trauma science and anti-ballistic technology.”

New York Police officers gather outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Officer Wilbert Mora’s funeral, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in New York.
(AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Of those 101 officers shot so far, 19 were shot in ambush-style attacks, representing a 36% increase from 2021, according to FOP. Those 19 ambush attacks resulted in 32 officers shot, five of whom were killed.

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In one example that captured the nation’s attention in January, New York Police Department Officer Wilbert Mora, a 27, and Detective Jason Rivera, 22, were fatally shot while also responding to a domestic dispute. 

Less than a month later, nine police officers were wounded during a Feb. 11 shootout in Phoenix while responding to a domestic dispute that resulted in the deaths of a suspect and a female victim.

The five states with the highest number of officers killed so far this year are: Arizona, Texas, New York, Georgia and Washington state.

“This violence is completely unacceptable,” Yoes said. “It’s a stain on our society, and it must end. It is incumbent upon our elected officials and community leaders to stand up and speak out against the violence against law enforcement officers.”

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In 2021 alone, the FOP counted a “historic” 346 officers shot in the line of duty — 63 of whom were killed. That number was up from 312 officers shot in 2020, 47 of whom were killed, and 293 shot in 2019, 50 of whom were killed, according to an FOP analysis.

Last year, the five states with the highest numbers of officers shot in the line of duty were Texas, Illinois, California, Georgia and Florida.

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