Last year, the Fraternal Order of Police recorded the highest number of officers shot in the line of duty in the organization’s history, according to a report released this week.
Overall, 378 officers were shot in the line of duty in 2023, compared to 330 in 2022. In Texas alone, KRLD reported on at least two officer shootings this year: the shooting of a Dallas Police Department officer in May and the shooting of a Houston Police Department officer in November.
“Thankfully, because of dramatic improvements in medical trauma science and anti-ballistic technology, the lethality of these attacks has been reduced and only 46 of the officers shot in the line of duty were killed,” said a statement from Patrick Yoes, national president of the FOP. “There were 115 ambush-style attacks on law enforcement officers this year, which resulted in 138 officers shot, 20 of whom were killed.”
Yoes said that the scale of violence against law enforcement officers in the nation is “horrifying” and “simply unsustainable,” as departments are facing a recruiting and retention crisis.
“When this Congress convened, I asked that they act swiftly and pass the Protect and Serve Act, which would address the national problem of ambushes and unprovoked attacks on our nation's law enforcement officers,” he said. “They have not done so. Today, given these numbers, what more would it take for lawmakers in Washington to see how necessary it is to pass this legislation?”
Per the Congress website, the bill was introduced in the house last February.
If passed, it would establish a new criminal offense for knowingly assaulting a law enforcement officer and causing serious bodily injury – or even attempting to do so – in circumstances that affect interstate commerce. Violations would be punished with a prison term, fine or both.
Several human rights organizations, including The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, wrote a letter urging lawmakers not to pass the legislation last May.
“It is a false equivalence to put law enforcement in the same category as people protected by federal hate crime laws, who have historically and systematically experienced discrimination,” said the letter. “Further, it is an ineffective approach to improving public safety or preventing assaults on law enforcement officers.”
However, Yoes said the FOP is still championing the proposed legislation.
“I call on Americans in every community across the country to join us in taking a stand—to say, ‘Enough is Enough!’” said Yoes. “Truthfully, the violence against those sworn to protect and serve is beyond unacceptable; it’s a stain on our society, and it must end. It is incumbent upon our elected officials and community leaders to stand up, support our heroes, and speak out against the violence against law enforcement officers.”