According to the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), 101 police officers have been shot in the line of duty in 2022. This represents a 43% increase over the preceding year. Of the 101 police officers who were shot, 17 were killed.
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, the FOP reports. Additionally, the FOP has counted 19 ambush-style attacks on police officers, a 36% increase from 2021. “These ambush-style attacks have resulted in 32 officers shot, 5 of whom were killed by gunfire,” wrote the FOP in its report.
“Premeditated ambush-style attacks are particularly disturbing and pernicious. These types of attacks are carried out with an element of surprise and intended to deprive officers of their ability to defend against the attack,” the FOP continued. “In 2020, 49 percent of shooting incidents involved a discernible element of premeditation, which is a 7 percent increase over 2019.”
A total of 336 police officers were shot in 2021, with 63 receiving fatal wounds. The grim figure has been rising in each year since 2019, which more or less mirrors national homicide trends, which shot up dramatically following the pandemic lockdowns and BLM riots in 2020.
“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 statement on Friday. “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.”
According to Yoes, the number of police officers shot in 2022 is outpacing last year.
