Violence against police officers saw a sharp increase in 2021, with the FBI reporting a 59% increase in police murders — a phenomenon authorities say doesn’t get enough attention.
More than 70 law enforcement officers were killed over the last year, averaging out to about one officer being killed every five days, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray. This coincides with a 29% increase in murders in the country last year and a rise in violent crime that has prompted concerns among state leaders and residents alike.
“Some of it is tied to the violent crime problem as a whole,” Wray said in a 60 Minutes segment that aired on Sunday. “But one of the phenomena we saw 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.”
The sharp increase is partly due to problems perpetrated by the pandemic and the recent rise in gun trafficking, Wray said. However, it also may be due to juveniles committing more violent crimes.
In Colorado, juvenile homicides have increased fourfold in the last 20 years, rising from 13 in 2001 to 67 in 2021, according to the Gazette. In Washington, D.C., carjackings increased by 47% in 2021, with nearly 65% being committed by someone under the age of 18.
The increase in violence against police officers has largely gone overlooked, said Wray, who lost two FBI officers last year as they were conducting a search warrant in Florida related to child pornography.
“Wearing a badge shouldn’t make you a target,” Wray said. The agents’ deaths were “the hardest thing I’ve encountered in this job.”
