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A hearse carrying Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz passes through in Antioch, Ill., on Sept. 7, 2015.(Photo: Patrick Kunzer, AP)
Police officials are voicing<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fear<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that anti-cop<span style="color: Red;">*</span>protests across the country have sparked shootings of law enforcement officers and created a climate of distrust between the public and police.
“The opportunity for officers to let down their guard, maybe show a little more empathy – that is all lost when you have these situations,” said Terrence Cunningham, police chief in Wellesley, Mass., and first vice president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. “That becomes very, very difficult when officers see their brother and sister officers essentially being assassinated and being ambushed.”
Recent shootings include:
–<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A Las Vegas officer shot in the hand Sunday while sitting in his car at an intersection, on his way to a call. The suspect was captured nearby without police firing back.
–<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The Sept. 1 death of Fox Lake, Ill., Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, who was investigating suspicious activity. His death sparked a massive hunt for three men by 400 federal, state and local police, and the search continues.
–<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The Aug. 28 death of Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Goforth while he was refueling his patrol car at a Houston-area gas station. Shannon Miles, 30, has been charged with capital murder, accused of emptying a 15-round handgun into Goforth’s back and head.
Donald Charles Hummer, an associate professor of criminal justice at Pennsylvania State University, said motives of the various gunmen might never be<span style="color: Red;">*</span>known, but that violence is usually localized and personal.
“Random violence strikes a chord with people because it’s hard to rationalize,” Hummer said. “These perpetrators had to have a buildup of anger compounding resentment before the past few weeks.”
The deaths have spurred public sympathy for police. A 16-year-old boy, McKinley Zoellner, offered to protect Harris County Deputy Tommi Kelley while she pumped gas recently – and a selfie of the pair has been shared on Facebook more than 220,000 times.
USA TODAY
Poll: Blacks, whites agree police treat blacks differently
The shootings of police came during a year when cities such as Houston, St. Louis, New Orleans, Baltimore each had significant spikes in homicides –<span style="color: Red;">*</span>after years of plummeting crime statistics, according to an analysis by the Associated Press. Los Angeles, Chicago and New York each saw more violence, too, according to the analysis.
The latest<span style="color: Red;">*</span>shootings also followed waves of protests after the deaths during police confrontations of Freddie Gray in Baltimore in April 2015; Tamir Rice in Cleveland in November 2014; Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in August 2014; and Eric Garner in New York City in July 2014.
Six officers have been charged in Gray’s death, but police haven’t been charged in the other cases. Baltimore announced a $6.4 million settlement Tuesday with Gray’s family, and New York reached a $5.9 million settlement in July with Garner’s family.
Cunningham, the police chief, said tensions are highest in his 35 years of police work in part because some police critics have urged people “to pick up the pitchforks” rather than break down barriers between police and communities.
“I do think there is some of that Ferguson effect where some of the officers are afraid to do their job,” he said. “They are afraid to use force when necessary and appropriate.”
Steps to better protect police include wearing bulletproof vests and traveling in pairs.
Local police noted that crime statistics fell after federal funding for extra staffing, called Community Oriented Policing Services, peaked at $1.3<span style="color: Red;">*</span>billion a year in the late 1990s, but support has declined in recent years.
The Obama administration proposing $250 million for COPS hiring grants next year. While negotiations continue, the House voted to eliminate the hiring grants, which the administration said would eliminate 1,300 positions, and instead supported $50 million for an initiative to improve community trust in police through programs such as body cameras for officers.
Another Justice Department program has provided local police with 1.2 million bulletproof vests worth $393 million since 1999. Lawmakers heralded the latest grants during the last week as part of $18 million spent on 48,705 vests so far this year.
“Every day when our first responders report for duty, they don’t know what they will face,” Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said in announcing $142,000 for her state.
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