5 Things You Should Know About Policing In America

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The War on Police Exists, but It’s More Rhetorical Than Physical

The concept of a “war on police” is often repeated, both in media and by pro-police groups. To support this idea, many cite the increased number of officers murdered on duty. It is true that there has been a large spike in police murdered on duty. Per the Officer Down Memorial Project, approximately 67 officers were murdered on duty in 2016 (This does not include accidents). This is a significant deviation from the average of the previous ten years which is 54.4.

The picture changes however, when one includes all assaults on police. In the past decade, violence against police overall has dropped. 2005 saw a 11.9% rate of assaults on officers. In 2015, it was 9.9%. The date is incomplete, however. The FBI has yet to release data for 2016. It is possible that the assaults in 2016 mirror the spike in murders.

This data means that there may be no physical “War on Police”, at least not a new one. Generally lower crime rates and improved equipment, have resulted in police officers being safer overall.  Despite this, officers do not feel any safer (Page 65). Which begs the question, Why don’t they?

Part of it is due to media influence. These days, police all over the country know about the deaths of other officers almost immediately. This affects the outlooks of individuals on the job, even if they haven’t experienced these events personally. Additionally, police officers believe that high profile events such as the Michael Brown shooting have made their jobs harder and interactions with citizens more tense (Page 4). The amount of genuine anti-police rhetoric has also increased due to high profile shootings. This further contributes to a feeling of unease among police officers.

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