Across the country, from California to New York and Wisconsin to Alabama, more than 15 law enforcement officers have been shot so far in the first month of 2022. The attacks have been happening on average every-other-day in January, with six shot in just one recent 48-hour period. Being attacked on-duty and off, officers continue to be targeted by lawless individuals at an alarming rate.
In New York City, residents and first responders are still in the process of mourning the deaths of 27-year old Officer Wilbert Mora and 22-year-old Officer Jason Rivera, both gunned down in the line of duty and two of the most recent officers to be shot in recent days as crime continues to spike.
Police Officers and law enforcement from all over the country packed shoulder to shoulder to honor New York City’s Finest, our hero Police Officer Jason Rivera. #FidelisAdMortem pic.twitter.com/FiQqEoFZxv
— NYC PBA (@NYCPBA) January 28, 2022
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, three law enforcement officers have been shot in recent weeks including 26-year-old Milwaukee County Sheriffs Deputy Christian Almonte and Milwaukee Police Detective Andrew Wilkiewicz who was shot off-duty while trying to stop a robbery.
A Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police officer was shot while responding to a call, after which the city's Black Lives Matter activists whined that there's too much support for police officers shot in the line of duty. In Ferguson, Missouri, two officers were shot while trying to apprehend a homicide suspect. In Los Angeles, off-duty officer Fernando Arroyos was shot and killed by three men attempting to rob him and his girlfriend while they shopped for a new home.
In Bluff City, Tennessee, a Sullivan County deputy was shot during a standoff. In Gray, Georgia, a Jones Country deputy was shot during a traffic stop. Priceville, Alabama's police chief Rick Williams was shot when he arrived to investigate a report of a suspicious person who then opened fire.
And just yesterday, three Houston police officers were wounded in a shootout Thursday even as the city prepares to hold the funeral for Corporal Charles Galloway who was shot and killed during a traffic stop-turned-ambush earlier this week.
JUST IN: New video shows the shootout between police and a gunman at McGowen and Hutchins. Three Houston police officers were shot and are expected to survive. You can see a man from the car run away with a gun. #breaking #news V/C ?? Ben Simon pic.twitter.com/FfkpMu4FgH
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) January 27, 2022
National Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes noted that American "communities are seeing the real-life consequences of and feeling the immense pain caused by the recent surge in violent crime" that has gripped cities big and small across America. "More and more citizens in this country are justifiably living in fear, constantly wondering if they too will be victimized," Yoes added in a statement on the new year's continuation of rising crime.
?? BREAKING: “The alarming rise in violent crime and violence targeting law enforcement officers must be addressed now, not only at all levels of government but also by society, as we will all suffer the consequences if they go unaddressed.” pic.twitter.com/4WHk3jSQiM
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) January 28, 2022
"Simultaneously, as crime rates continue to rise, the violence directed at law enforcement officers is skyrocketing," Yoes said. "I have worked in law enforcement for 36 years, and the current level of violence targeted at our law enforcement officers is the worst I have ever seen." This "alarming rise in violent crime and violence targeting law enforcement officers must be addressed now," Yoes declared, "not only at all levels of government but also by society, as we will all suffer the consequences if they go unaddressed."
The violence against officers, as Yoes noted, accompanies spikes in violent crimes committed against citizens in American cities. Carjackings, homicides, and assaults reached decade-highs in numerous cities in 2021, but it seems those cities' leaders are unwilling to admit their complicity in the problem.
Years of anti-police rhetoric in the name of so-called "social justice" caused officers to retire early rather than face the task of protecting a city in which they're unwanted and unsupported by mayors and city councils. Radical prosecutors continue to bend the rules to allow violent offenders to plead down their charges to receive little more than slaps on the wrist. Police officers and the laws they swear to uphold have suffered under the sustained attack from Democrats, and if something doesn't change, conditions will only get worse.
Will President Biden speak out on the issue? Will Kamala Harris — a former prosecutor and attorney general — emphasize the importance of holding people accountable for breaking laws in proportion to their crimes? Will big city mayors champion and adequately equip the selfless officers who put their lives on the line to try and maintain law and order on their streets? Absent this kind of action, Yoes' warning that an increasing number of Americans will "suffer the consequences" will, tragically, prove prescient.