The police would have you believe that the war against cops is in full swing, with a massive spike in deaths by gunfire, however, that would only be partly true. A recent tally by the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Fund shows that police deaths are up in general, with a large increase in the number of deaths caused by homicide involving firearms. The total is up from last year, by 22% so far, with gun-related deaths climbing by 68% to a total of 64. The reality is, that despite the number of deaths of police being up, homicide and gun violence is still not the leading cause.
Of the 137 police officer line-of-duty deaths to occur this year, more than half were caused by either traffic crashes or what was listed as “other causes.” Other causes included aircraft crash, drowning, electrocution, fall, fire-related incidents, job-related illness and poisoning. 2016 has been one of the more brutal years on record, in as far as the amount of violence perpetrated unto the public by those sworn to protect. As the year ends, we are approaching 1,000 Americans killed by the police. The total number of police killed by firearm this year has been 64 compared to last year’s 38. The rise can be attributed to the massive outrage by the public, who no longer view the police as trustworthy pillars of the community.
The truth of the matter is, police are twice as likely to be killed by their own horrible driving skills than a bullet. Traffic-related and other causes of death comprise more than half of the total deaths, with 73 out of the total 137. The states that report the most police casualties are Texas, with 18; California, with 10; Louisiana, with 9; and due to the recent police ambush killings, Georgia, which comes in with a total of 8. Out of the total, 5 were federal law enforcement officers and 1 was a member of the Native American Tribal Police.
The war against cops myth has been perpetuated by law enforcement, not only to garner support from the community, but to gain additional funding and equipment. The reality of the matter is that in the most recent Time magazine’s most dangerous jobs list, law enforcement comes in at 15th on the list. The most dangerous job in America was found to be logging, with just over 1% of the total workforce dying in the course of the year. Next up was fisherman, followed by aircraft pilots. The list goes through farmers, iron workers, electrical professionals and taxi drivers before eventually finding police somewhere in the middle of the list.
Some of the more shocking death statistics for police in 2016 were the non-violence related deaths. Shockingly, although there is no reporting data for 2016, in 2015, twelve officers were found to have died from alcohol, while three officers died due to drugs. One of the more telling statistics was the number of “job related illness” deaths that hit an incredible 22 for the year. Job related illness includes anything related to heart disease and stress. While the year is not over, the numbers consistently show that police deaths are generally not homicide related, and that the real reason for most police deaths are their own bad choices.
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