Halfway through the month of May, the year 2021 has currently seen 106 police officers wounded in the line of duty, with 23 killed, as reported by Fox News.
A statement from the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) on Thursday said that these numbers are indicative of grim trends for the remainder of the year, which is “on pace to surpass last year’s historic numbers” of officers killed and wounded in the line of duty.
Of the 106 wounded, 27 were deliberately targeted in 22 different attacks that were carried out like ambushes. Since Monday of this week, which marked the beginning of National Police Week, six officers have been shot while on duty.
“The demonization of police has made communities and law enforcement jobs less safe,” the statement from FOP President Patrick Yoes continued. “We are seeing the consequences of such divisive rhetoric with violence targeting police officers on the rise. Our law enforcement officers are increasingly under fire by individuals motivated by nothing more than a desire to kill or injure a cop.”
In the year 2020, at the height of violent far-left race riots across the country following the fentanyl overdose death of George Floyd in May, 314 police officers were shot in the line of duty. Of those 314, 47 were killed and 43 were injured in ambushes.