The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | March 2017
Officer Safety in These Troubling Times By Sergei P. Duda, Training Officer Law Enforcement, Hudson County, N.J., Department of Corrections
Law Enforcement officer safety is of paramount importance in these troubling times. Historically, law enforcement officers have always faced an environment fraught with danger and have always performed their duties with courage and professionalism. But recent nationwide crime statistics have shown a disconcerting upward trend of violence directed at them in the form of ambush-style attacks. Officers and department commanders should be cognizant of this trend as it relates to a potentially dangerous officer safety situation we don’t normally think about-- officers commuting to and from work while wearing their uniforms.
In many law enforcement departments nationwide, off-duty officers are commuting to and from work in various stages of uniform dress and equipment. After a long shift, an officer commuting home while still in uniform, may not be thinking about the potential jeopardy their uniform places them in. Considering the recent rash of ambush and other types of assaults on officers throughout the United States, our officer’s state of situational awareness, attentiveness, and caution to potential danger while in uniform should be a real concern of officers and command alike. Officers must be aware that they can be targeted for violence for no other reason than wearing their police uniform on or off-duty and need to be prepared.
Statistics reported in the “2016 Law Enforcement Officer Fatalities Report” published by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reflect that firearms related deaths were the number one cause of officer deaths in 2016; with sixty-four (64) officers shot and killed across the country. This represented a 56 percent increase from 2015. Most importantly though, was the fact that twenty-one (21) of these officer deaths were the result of ambush -style attacks, the highest total in more than two decades. This number is 163 percent higher than 2015 when eight officers were shot and killed in ambush-style attacks.
The law enforcement job has always been dangerous and statistically speaking, on a yearly basis, many officers are severely injured or killed; however, the significant rise of these ambush-style attacks on police should be of major concern. These attacks were mostly on uniformed officers. More analysis of the data is needed to learn why this is happening. There doesn’t appear to be a nexus to domestic terrorism, but these attacks could possibly be attributed to an increasing and misguided manifestation of anger towards police in general.
Domestic disturbance calls accounted for fourteen (14) officer fatalities and were the underlying circumstances in some of the ambushes of officers. Spontaneous ambushes are unprovoked attacks without long-term planning. These types of attacks are often considered “crimes of opportunity.” The assailant makes the decision at the time of the officer’s approach and surprises the officer with an unprovoked assault. The majority ambushes reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) via incident data have been classified as “spontaneous.” It doesn’t really matter whether an officer is on or off duty, their uniform could make them a target.
According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), “four factors typically define an ambush attack: 1- An element of surprise; 2-Assailants who conceal themselves, their weapons or their intent; 3-The suddenness of the attack; 4-A lack of provocation.
Attackers may attempt to lure lone officers into a situation with the intent of
killing or injuring them in a pre-meditated attack. But more often, the assaults are spontaneous -- the result of an attacker taking advantage of an unexpected encounter with an officer.”
Citing one recent example, in November 2016, four (4) police officers were shot in three (3) states during one bloody Sunday for police nationwide.
Three of the incidents appeared to be targeted attacks and involved law
enforcement officers sitting unsuspectingly in their patrol cars, either waiting in traffic or after pulling vehicles over for traffic stops. "I think the uniform was the target and the first person who happened along was the person he targeted," San Antonio Police Chief William McManus commented on the Texas case. This exemplifies the randomness of these shootings that are the most dangerous because they are impossible to predict and prepare for.
These type of random ambush style shootings could easily happen in any of our urban geographical areas. The target--- ANY OFFICER IN UNIFORM (On or Off Duty) WHO IS UNFORTUNATELY AT THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME. Departmental command should enact their policies whereby only officers properly armed and equipped should be allowed to transit to and from their departments while on duty leave. Any officer
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