Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE
Over a 24-hour-period on Friday, 13 police officers from Arizona, Maryland, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania were wounded in shootings involving domestic disputes, traffic stops, serving warrants, and going about their duties to protect citizens.
“This is what we call the war on cops,” Betsy Brantner Smith, who is a spokeswoman for the National Police Association and a 29-year police veteran who trains officers, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
“[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 worst of the shootings by far took place in Phoenix, Arizona early Friday morning during a response to a domestic dispute. Video shows the suspect, who was reportedly a member of the Crips, putting a baby on a doorstep as officers advanced and then opening fire on them. When the incident ended, nine officers were shot and the suspect and a female victim were dead. The one-month-old baby was apparently unharmed and was still on the stoop following the shooting.
Officers initially responded to a report of a woman being shot. The suspect invited the officers inside after placing the baby outside the door and then opened fire on them. One officer was struck multiple times. When SWAT entered the home, they found the suspect and the woman dead.
“I don’t think it’s an overstatement to call what these officers did heroic,” Sgt. Andy Williams with Phoenix Police stated. “They knew that an officer had just been shot in this very doorway, and four officers were willing to run into that doorway to try and save this child.”
(Video Credit: ABC News)
Friday afternoon, two police officers were shot and wounded in Frederick, Maryland. They had been responding to a call concerning a suspicious person. The suspect was shot during the encounter and was taken to a hospital.
(Video Credit: WUSA9)
In New Mexico, a police officer was shot and wounded that afternoon while pursuing a vehicle that had previously rammed into his patrol car.
UPDATE: NMSP Officer shot during a pursuit on State Road 333 near Sedillo Hill. This update asks for the public’s help in identifying the female suspect who was involved in an officer-involved shooting.#PressReleaseNMSP https://t.co/d5lfoonCNw https://t.co/cz9b3eJD3k pic.twitter.com/1dRjQMaohV
— NMSP (@NMStatePolice) February 12, 2022
Friday night in Philadelphia a SWAT officer was shot while he was serving a drug warrant at an apartment building. The suspect reportedly fired two shots through the wall hitting the officer in his body armor according to FOX 29 Philadelphia.
(Video Credit: FOX 29 Philadelphia)
This is just the latest spat of officer shootings. More cops were shot and killed in 2021 than in any previous year since 1995, according to the FBI’s law enforcement officers killed in action (LEOKA) data.
In 2021, 73 police officers were killed in the line of duty. That was almost a 59 percent jump compared to 46 being killed in 2020. It’s also the most since 1995 when 74 officers were killed on the job. The next milestone for cop-killers was in 2011 when 72 officers were murdered, according to a report by the Heartland Institute.
The number of officers killed in previous years is sobering as well. There were 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 making it one of the most perilous jobs out there.
Despite knowing that they risk their lives every time they put on a badge, cops do it anyway. But after almost two years of hardcore anti-police rhetoric, the situation is getting increasingly worse.
“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,” Brantner Smith remarked. “And, unfortunately, not only has it become a big media issue, but it’s become a huge political issue.”
She joined former New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir in singling out progressive bail reform and prosecution policies that have allowed repeat offenders to be released from prison and back onto the street without vetting.
“The message that politicians and district attorneys have been sending to criminals is you can commit crimes with impunity,” Safir asserted. “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.”
Violent crime has exploded across the nation over the last two years. In 22 major U.S. cities, murders jumped 44 percent in 2021. The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), a nonpartisan criminal justice policy organization, found that there were 218 more murders in those cities last year than the year before.
All violent crime is reportedly increasing including robberies, assaults, carjackings, and domestic violence.
Many police officers see the writing on the wall in these big, progressive cities and are heading for smaller departments or are leaving law enforcement entirely. That state of affairs is making it even more difficult for the cops staying behind in big cities to do their jobs.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- Dem elitist mayor living like royalty mocked for hilariously corrupt antics: ‘Real life Parks & Rec’ - January 5, 2024
- Pelosi says states, not voters, should be able to decide who is on a ballot - January 5, 2024
- Whoopi blasts rumors she’s on Epstein’s list, says she’s listed on ‘fake’ one - January 5, 2024
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
