According to the Crime Data Explorer from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, more police officers died of felonious killings in 2021 than any year on record, with the previous record being set in 2011.
CNN reported that the figures represent “the highest total recorded by the agency since 1995, excluding the 9/11 attacks.”
In 2021, 73 law enforcement officers were killed feloniously, a 58.7% increase over the 46 officers that died similarly in 2020, and is the highest total since 2011, according to CNN’s report. It adds that of those 73 deaths, 4 involved the use of “personal weapons,” 6 involved vehicles as weapons, and 61 involved firearms.
A full 24 of the deaths were the consequence of “unprovoked attacks,” which according to the report is of particular concern since “this circumstance significantly outpaced all other… deaths in 2021 and reached the highest… in over 30 years of reporting.”
The report adds that 257 law enforcement officers died during their employment due to complications from COVID-19, another 17 died of heart attacks, and 3 died of cancer, just one officer died of natural causes, and one more passed in 2021 from complications “associated with responding to the terrorist attacks of 9/11.”
Since the deadly riots and protests that rocked multiple cities across the nation following George Floyd’s death in May of 2020, the Left has called for defunding of the police, and driven hatred towards law enforcement officers. Law enforcement’s image is improving, however, according to a Pew Research study from September of 2021.
When Pew polled the public about police funding back in 2020, 12% responded that it should be “decreased a lot,” with 14% saying it should be “decreased a little” and just 11% claiming that funding should be “increased a lot.”
In 2021, half as many respondents, just 6% said that the police’s funding should be “decreased a lot,” 9% agreed that it should be “decreased a little,” and over 1 in 5 respondents, 21%, said that police funding should be “increased a lot.”
The largest drop-off in ‘defund the police’ supporters is amongst Democrats, of whom 41% agreed with defunding in 2020, but only 25% of Democrats believe the same today.
Author: Andrew Young
