The number of police officers shot on the job hit a new high in 2023, a new report shows.
The National Fraternal Order of Police, a national police group with nearly 400,000 members, released the report, which showed 378 officers were shot in the line of duty in 2023, up 14% from the previous year, when 330 were shot.
Of the 378 shot this year, 46 died from their injuries.
A graphic from the report shows the significant increase in recent years as well as the breakdown by state.
The report goes on to say that there were 115 “ambush-style” attacks on officers in 2023, leading to 20 fatally shot officers.
Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, blasted the “Defund the Police” movement, saying it led to a spike in shootings that has not decreased. That movement took off after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing Black Lives Matter riots around the country.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic behind us and after so many Americans have seen the tragic consequences of the defund the police movement, it was our hope that these numbers would be a high-water mark,” Yoes said. “We were wrong.
“Thankfully, because of dramatic improvements in medical trauma science and anti-ballistic technology, the lethality of these attacks has been reduced and only 46 of the officers shot in the line of duty were killed,” he added.
Yoes has advocated for Congress to pass the Protect and Serve Act, which creates federal criminal penalties for those who target police officers.
“Truthfully, the violence against those sworn to protect and serve is beyond unacceptable; it’s a stain on our society, and it must end,” he said. “It is incumbent upon our elected officials and community leaders to stand up, support our heroes, and speak out against the violence against law enforcement officers.”
