In total, 52,901 officers were assaulted while performing their duties in 2012. This was a rate of 10.2 per 100 sworn officers. So, in round figures, one out of 10 US law enforcement officers was assaulted in the line of duty during 2012.
A somber component of LEOKA is the Summaries of Officers Feloniously Killed This section provides a written account of each incident in which a law enforcement officer was killed in 2012. The Summaries are mandatory reading for those who are truly interested in the topic of officer survival.
An addition to LEOKA this year is a downloadable eBook that has all the Summaries for the previous five years, 2007-2011. It is available in epub format, which can be used in many readers or easily converted for those with a Kindle.
A 52-year-old deputy sheriff with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office was shot and killed at 11:12 a.m. on March 6 while investigating robbery suspects. Moments after a couple was reported to have stolen items from a hotel and then struck an employee with their sport utility vehicle (SUV) while fleeing the scene, the veteran deputy, who had more than 9 years of law enforcement experience, located the SUV on a dead-end street. The deputy parked and exited her patrol vehicle and approached the suspects’ vehicle. She described the male driver and female passenger to dispatch and requested backup because the driver was not complying with her verbal commands. Video footage from the deputy’s patrol vehicle showed the driver opening and closing the door. As the deputy continued her approach, the driver slowly moved the SUV forward, ignoring the deputy’s commands to stop. When he did stop, the driver opened the door wider than before and asked the deputy if she was going to shoot him. With her weapon holstered, video showed the deputy approached the SUV, opened the door, and was met with a series of gunshots from a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun, which appeared to come from the driver’s side. The deputy, who was wearing body armor, immediately fell to the ground with injuries to her front upper torso/chest, arms/hands, and a fatal wound to the front of her head. The driver shut the door and both suspects fled in the SUV. The couple stopped in a nearby neighborhood where the passenger allegedly committed a burglary in an occupied residence. Law enforcement officers found the suspects in their SUV parked at the residence where the burglary had just occurred. A vehicle pursuit followed, and both suspects were subsequently apprehended and arrested. The 22-year-old driver, who had a prior criminal record including violent crime, drug violations, police assault, and weapons violations, was charged with First-Degree Premeditated Murder of Law Enforcement Officer, Robbery, Flee/Attempt to Elude High Speed, Resisting Law Enforcement Officer with Violence, Possession of Weapon by Convicted Felon, Failure to Appear, and six counts of Probation Violation. The 19-year-old passenger, who also had a prior criminal record, was charged with First-Degree Felony Murder, Robbery with Deadly Weapon, and Warrant—Sale of Controlled Substance.
Of the 47 accidental deaths, 22 were car accidents, another 10 were officers struck by cars, and 6 more were motorcycle related. This seems like an unacceptable risk. I know nothing about officer training but can't help but wonder if more training ( or larger training budgets ) is needed, or some kind of new technology is needed to keep officers safe.
PawPaw said:The use of computers in the cars initially caused a spike in traffic accidents, simply because the officers were using the computer when they should have been focusing on the road. Think texting and driving, with a full keyboard. Not a great idea.
BUT, . . . the militarization of the forces, . . . additional powers they have been given, . . . scares me to no end.
I wonder why she didn't wait for backup. It's Brevard County which is kind of spread out- was backup that far away? Also, why approach the vehicle at all, when the suspect is suspected of committing a violent felony? It seems she would have a much better chance from the cover of her car. Of course, this is with 20/20 hindsight.
Not really tactics and training related, but it irks me that someone with a record like this "violent crime, drug violations, police assault, and weapons violations, " was out on the street.
It's for this very reason that Deputies in a rural county are typically far more apt to use a healthy amount of force rather quickly. It's not that they walk around looking to pick a fight. It's more like they have a good while before the cavalry arrives if they get in trouble, so it's better to stay ahead of the power curve and strike first when trouble appears to be brewin'.
Just after 11 a.m. on July 17, an off-duty master police officer with the Lumberton Police Department (LPD) was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a suspect who had outstanding warrants. The 32-year-old officer was driving his personal vehicle when he spotted the suspect riding in the passenger seat of a vehicle. The officer knew the individual was wanted for outstanding warrants. The officer called for assistance and followed the vehicle as it pulled into a convenience store. The driver entered the store, leaving the suspect sitting in the vehicle. The officer, who had more than 6 years of law enforcement experience, pulled up alongside the passenger side of the suspect’s vehicle just as an LPD patrol vehicle pulled behind the suspect’s vehicle at an angle. Both the off-duty officer and the responding officer exited their vehicles at the same time. As the responding officer began to approach from the back of the vehicle, he heard shots. The suspect had apparently produced a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun and shot the victim officer in the side of the head, the neck/throat, and fatally in the front upper torso/chest. The responding officer called for backup, drew his weapon, and kept the suspect at gunpoint until additional officers arrived. The 27-year-old suspect knew the victim officer through a previous encounter with law enforcement and was on supervised release from previous criminal convictions at the time of the incident. He was taken into custody and charged with First-Degree Murder.