FBI Director Christopher Wray’s interview with 60 Minutes is lying underneath the rest of the news despite bringing up an important issue.
“Violence against law enforcement in this country is one of the biggest phenomena that I think doesn’t get enough attention,” Wray told Scott Pelley. “Last year, officers were being killed at a rate of almost one every five days.”
Some of the murders happen during violent crimes. But the majority are killed for being police officers:
Christopher Wray: Some of it is tied to the violent crime problem as a whole. But one of the phenomena that we saw in the last year is that an alarming percentage of the 73 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty last year were killed through things like being ambushed or shot while out on patrol.Scott Pelley: They were killed because they were police officers.Christopher Wray: Right. Wearing the badge shouldn’t make you a target.
Pelley seemed to try to justify the people’s feelings toward the police, but Wray didn’t take the bait:
Scott Pelley: But Mr. Director, some people are in their homes living in fear of the police coming through the door with a no-knock warrant. And I wonder how the FBI can contribute to the reduction of police brutality, which also occurs in our country?Christopher Wray: Well, we take very seriously our responsibility to both protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. And that includes where it happens, going after police misconduct if it violates federal criminal law.
Statistics revealed that 2021 was the deadliest year for police officers since 1995, excluding September 11.
The data also showed an increase in “unprovoked” attacks. The FBI defines unprovoked as “not prompted by official contact at the time of the incident.” It describes ambush as an “entrapment and premeditated attack.”
Out of the intentional killings, the FBI classified 25 of them as unprovoked through December 27.
The FBI’s unprovoked stat usually comes in with a single-digit number.
The 2022 numbers are just as disturbing, and we’re only at the end of April. The Officer Down Memorial Page lists fallen police officers who pass by natural, accident, or intentional causes on- or off-duty.
The page lists 17 officers killed by intentional gunfire in 2022.
Total fatalities from Jan 1 – April 25, 2022, are down from the same time in 2021. But the firearm related fatalities are up by 6%.
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