Police ambush leading cause of officer deaths

While police ambushes that lead to officer deaths and injuries are on the rise, it’s not a new trend, and local law enforcement officials say it’s something they train for frequently.

Fatal ambushes like the December attack on two New York City police officers have been the leading cause of firearm-related police deaths in recent years, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which tracks how officers die in the line of duty.

The number of law enforcement officers shot to death in the line of duty rose more than 50 percent in 2014, according to the organization’s most recent report.

Fifty officers were killed by firearms — 15 in ambush attacks -- in 2014, compared with 10 ambushes among 32 shooting deaths the year before.

Ouachita Parish Chief Deputy Marc Mashaw said police ambushes have been an issue since the early days of law enforcement when gangs of outlaws tricked unsuspecting lawmen to spots to enact vengeance.

Today, officers are trained for those scenarios that might involve arriving at a location with a suspect prepared to attack and harm law enforcement. Most of the calls officers are sent to investigate involve a perpetrator that knows they’re coming.

“We train for officer survival every day,” Mashaw said.

Police ambushes can be spur of the moment — a suspect commits a crime and decides he’d rather go out in a firefight with authorities than spend time behind bars — or it can be planned. Those planned ambushes usually involve a bogus call to 911 to report a crime so officers respond to a person lying in wait.

Mashaw has been in law enforcement for the past 27 years, and even in those early days of his career police trained for ambush scenarios.

“It’s just the nature of the business and it’s been around as long as law enforcement has existed. It’s just a dangerous time ... far more dangerous than ever,” Mashaw said. “We got a call the other day from a guy mad at us because one of our deputies stopped him late one night — he was walking in a neighborhood after dark with a flashlight and backpack. In his conversation with the dispatcher he said, ‘You see, this is why people shoot cops.’ That’s the stuff we deal with.”

Monroe Police Chief Quentin Holmes doesn’t believe police ambush is a trend, but it’s an occurrence that’s very concerning for law enforcement across the country.

Basic training is the key to keeping officers safe from people who want to do police or others harm. That includes being aware of one’s surroundings, notifying dispatchers and waiting for backup.

“Basic training teaches officers to be vigilant,” Holmes said.

He encourages citizens to contact police if they are aware someone intends to harm officers or citizens. In most cases, people who plan bodily harm have made it known either on social media or by making comments sometimes weeks before taking action, Holmes said.

“Whatever the reasons, it’s a criminal act that won’t be tolerated. We must do everything we can to prevent it from happening and that’s why communication is key. If you hear someone talking about harming a law enforcement officer or citizen, please contact authorities immediately,” Holmes said.

State Police Trooper Michael Reichardt said troopers train for officer survival and while police ambush is not a scenario troopers specifically train for, they have to be ready for any situation.

“A lot of people don’t like the police for various reasons, but we have a job to do and we know the dangers when we signed up. But why people want to hurt another person simply because of their career choice ... I have no idea,” Reichardt said.

Officers have to worry about every scenario and be ready to handle any situation that may arise, Mashaw said.

“We are less concerned with why someone wants to cause an officer harm and more concerned with how. Whatever people can dream up hopefully we have already thought of that scenario and trained for it,” Mashaw said.

Follow Scott Rogers on Twitter @lscottrogers.

Firearms-related incidents were the number one cause of officer deaths in 2014, with 50. This was a 56 percent increase over the 32 officers shot and killed in 2013.

Ambush attacks resulted in 15 officer deaths, the leading felonious cause of deaths among officers in 2014 and for the fifth straight year. The other leading categories of felonious deaths in 2014 were traffic stops or pursuits (8), investigating suspicious persons or activities (7), disturbance calls (6), attempting arrests (4), investigative activities (3), accidental shootings (2), burglary in progress (2), investigating drug-related matters (1), robbery in progress (1), and tactical situations (1).

Source: National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund