101 police officers were shot dead on duty, a 43% increase from 2021

The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the world’s largest organization of law enforcement officials, has until June 1.

The latest number marks a 43% increase compared to the number of officers shot dead during the same period in 2021 and a 63% increase compared to 2020, FOP reports.

“We are in the middle of a real crisis. The violence directed against police officers is unlike anything I’ve seen in my 36 years of law enforcement,” FOP National President Patrick Yoes said in a statement Friday. “Last year was one of the most dangerous years for law enforcement, with more officers being shot on duty since the National Fraternal Order of Police began recording this data.

He added that FOP’s data so far in 2022 suggests “we’re surpassing last year’s number of officers shot on duty.”

“It’s important to remember that these numbers represent people who are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters,” he said. “We must also be aware that the lethality of these attacks would be much greater were it not for dramatic improvements in medical trauma science and antiballistic technology.”

Of the 101 officers shot so far, 19 were shot in ambush attacks, a 36% increase from 2021, according to the FOP. During these 19 ambush attacks, 32 officers were shot dead, five of whom were killed.

In an example that caught the nation’s attention in January, 27-year-old New York City Police Officer Wilbert Mora and 22-year-old Detective Jason Rivera were fatally shot while they were also responding to a domestic dispute.

Less than a month later nine police officers were wounded during a February 11 shooting in Phoenix while responding to a domestic dispute that resulted in the deaths of a suspect and a female victim.

The five states with the highest number of officers killed so far this year are: Arizona, Texas, New York, Georgia and Washington state.

“This violence is totally unacceptable,” Yoes said. “It’s a stain on our society and it has to end. It is on our elected officials and community leaders to stand up and speak out against violence against law enforcement officials.”

In 2021 alone, the FOP counted “historic” 346 officers shot on the job – 63 of whom were killed. That number rose from 312 officers shot dead in 2020, of whom 47 were killed, and 293 shot dead in 2019, of whom 50 were killed, according to an FOP analysis.

Last year, Texas, Illinois, California, Georgia and Florida were the five states with the most officers shot while on duty.