A new report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (OMF) said that gun-related deaths of police officers in the US rose by 56 percent in 2014 when compared to last year, Reuters reported.
This year, 50 police officers were killed by guns, up from 32 in 2013. Of the officers killed in 2014, about a third of those were in ambush situations.
“Fifteen officers were shot and killed in ambush, more than any other circumstance of fatal shootings in 2014,” the OMF report said.
The most recent of these, and possibly the most-widely reported, was the ambush of two New York City policeman who sat in their squad car earlier this month. This incident serves as a prime example of the growing tension between police officers and the public, especially between the NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
de Blasio spoke openly about discussing with his biracial son the “dangers he may face” when dealing with police officers in the city. Because of these remarks, members of the NYPD turned their backs to the mayor as he spoke at the memorial for one of the slain officers.
Overall, 126 law enforcement officers were killed on the job in 2014, up from 102 officers killed in 2013, according to the OMF.
After gun-related deaths, traffic-related incidents were the second highest cause of death among officers.
California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Georgia are the most “deadly states” for law enforcement according to the report.
