US police fatalities rise %37 in 2010

The number of police fatalities in the Unites States has seen a dramatic increase in 2010 with most killings reported in the states of Texas, California, Illinois and Florida.

2010 has shaped up to be a deadly year for US law enforcement officers as figures show at least 160 police officers have been killed in the line of duty this year, marking a 37 percent increase from the 117 deaths last year, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

The figures have been compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which is a nonprofit institution honoring the nearly 19,000 US police officers who have died in the line of duty throughout history.

The report has also pointed to a rise in the number of shooting deaths, with fifty-nine federal, state and local officers killed by gunfire in 2010, a 20 percent jump from last year’s figures.

“A more brazen, cold-blooded criminal element is on the prowl in America, and they don’t think twice about killing a cop,” said Craig Floyd, the director of the memorial fund.

He also stated that the growing financial woes gripping many law enforcement officers in the United States may have largely contributed to the rise in their fatalities.

“We’re asking our officers to do more with less. We’re asking them to fight conventional crime,” Floyd noted.

The report has also cast a harsh spotlight on a troubling trend of the so-called cluster killings after two officers in a remote Alaska town were fatally shot and a California officer and deputy were gunned down in separate incidents in late August.

The fatalities among US police officers have occurred in more than 30 states, with two law enforcement agencies the California Highway Patrol and the Chicago Police Department suffering the most significant number of deaths.