New York – A spate of shooting attacks on law enforcement officers has authorities concerned about a war on cops.
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In just 24 hours, at least 11 officers were shot. The shootings included Sunday attacks at traffic stops in Indiana and Oregon, a Detroit police station shooting that wounded four officers, a shootout at a Port Orchard, Wash., Wal-Mart that injured two deputies. On Monday morning, two officers were shot dead and a U.S. Marshal was wounded by a gunman in St. Petersburg, Fla.
On Thursday, two Miami-Dade, Fla., detectives were killed by a murder suspect they were trying to arrest.
“It’s not a fluke,” said Richard Roberts, spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations. “There’s a perception among officers in the field that there’s a war on cops going on.”
With the Florida deaths, the nation is on track in 2011 to match the 162 police officers killed in the line of duty in 2010, said Steve Groeninger, spokesman for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that tracks police casualties. In January this year there have been 14 deaths, the same number as in January 2010, the fund posted on its web site.
The 2010 toll ended a two-year drop in fatalities and spiked 43 percent over the 117 killed in 2009, Groeninger said.
The big headlines from last week were of the arrest of over 130 members of so-called organized crime.That made big news and big deal…the streets are not safe and those fellows were not the problem. The federal goverment would be far better off in using all the resources available to fight the gangs of criminals who prey on the average citizen and now the police. Massive raids by well armed law enforcement agents (maybe even regular troops trained in urban warefare) should be done to rid America of this blight.
Why isn’t the “Reverend” defending the innocent shooting of cops?
I meant protesting the innocent shooting of cops. He is probably defending them.
How many were unprovoked, cold blooded murder like the one in Lakewood and how many were “regular” crime scenes with a typical shoot out? I believe it is the latter and this is just hype for more money and power to be given to the cops.
of course its not the point here and i am against the shooting of law officers.the question of abuse of power raises its ugly head however.the famous blue wall of silence for instance.the sadistic murder of bosch and the murders of many an innocent person of color from the “dangorous nieghborhoods.” if the officer of law understand they are not privelidged in being immune to what we are not immune to and they are not a special class and do not have a license to kill.this question can not be brought forth with a simple knee jerk answer.let us hope that an outside agency will be instituted to be the watchdog of all police agencies.and that agency will have its watchdogs.that is the only way to insure freedom.