Dept of Justice reviews whether training, behaviour or budget cuts are responsible for massive rise in killing of police officers...
US government officials are set to review a spate of deadly attacks on police officers that has been dubbed a "War on Cops".
A series of shootings has left 15 officers dead in January alone - with 11 killed in one 24-hour period alone.
The US Department of Justice said it will study whether the behaviour of officers, deficits in training or financial cut-backs could have contributed to the number of fatalities.
The crisis has been highlighted by extraordinary CCTV footage from a police station in Detroit showing a man opening fire on officers, injuring four.
The gunman, who was subsequently killed, struck because he was angry at a search of his home.
The shootings have taken place across the US and follow a dramatic rise in the number of officers killed in the line of duty last year.
Officer David Moore died after being shot in the head during a routine traffic stop on one of his first day shifts with the Indianapolis police department.
His mother Jo said: "What he didn't realise is that the day shift is more hazardous because, when something happens on day shifts, it's usually pretty ugly. Unfortunately, he met evil."
She said her son's organs were being donated: "Someone's getting a darn good heart."
Craig Floyd, of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, said: "I have never seen anything like it. These violent events have been detrimental to America's peace officers.
"We must do everything in our power to stop these senseless and heinous crimes against our law enforcement personnel."
The attacks, along with shootings earlier this month in Tucson, Arizona, have thrown the focus on the easy availability of firearms in the US.
It was noted that US President Barack Obama avoided the subject in his State of the Union address.
The right to bear arms, enshrined in the US constitution, remains an issue that divides Americans.
Some officers have voiced concerns that they are increasingly being "outgunned" by criminals desperate to avoid jail and armed with more high-power weapons - but unions point to a more familiar theme.
Rich Roberts, spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations, said: "There's so much violence on entertainment media, internet, movies, TV, that people are less sensitive to it and more inclined to be confrontational."
Article courtesy of www.policeoracle.com
2 comments:
This is difficult isn't it?
What is the reason?
I do tend to agree with the officers who say they are being "outgunned" by criminals who are desperate to avoid jail.
But I don't know what the answer is I'm afraid.
Has this anything to do with the loosely tied group called the 'Sovereign Citizens'? They are a right-wing group who consider themselves exempted from US law and taxes and have been known to have killed several police officers when stopped.
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