• Home
  • About
    • Authors
  • Articles
    • Archives
    • Chaplain
    • Crime & Controversy
    • Community
    • Cop Humor
    • Editorial
    • Op-ed
    • Gear & Technology
    • Investigations
    • Laws & Legal
    • Leadership
    • News
    • Officer Down
    • On Duty
    • Tactics
  • Network
    • Illinois Network
    • Minneapolis Network
    • Tulsa Network
    • Wauwatosa Network
    • Learn more
  • Training
  • Officer Privacy
  • Jobs
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Law Officer
Law Officer
No Result
View All Result

Anatomy of an Ambush

ambush attacks

(Philadelphia Police Department - YouTube)

September 18, 2022
National Police AssociationbyNational Police Association
Share and speak up for justice, law & order...

Recent statistics indicate that ambushes against police officers have increased dramatically (over 90% in one study) in the past few years.  Shootings of all kinds of police are up at least 20% this year and non-fatal injuries are not often included in such reports.

Police officers are well aware of the dangers when responding to calls involving fights and weapons. They know the statistical dangers of making car stops, responding to assist other officers calling for backup, and crimes in progress. Increasingly they have to maintain the same posture of vigilance just sitting in their patrol cars, responding to fires, and grabbing a bite to eat.

Ambushes are either an entrapment or spontaneous. Entrapment ambushes are planned by the perpetrator to lure officers into a surprise attack. Spontaneous ambushes are crimes of opportunity where a person has a predisposition and the means to attack a police officer who has the misfortune of encountering a killer with no warning.

In one of many cases where police were fired upon while in their cars a Federal Way, Washington officer in a marked patrol car was fired on from another vehicle while stopped at a traffic signal in September of 2021.

TRAINING: SECONDS FOR SURVIVAL

In February, Phoenix police were at the scene of a domestic disturbance and were invited into the apartment when suddenly shot by the resident who had shot a female. At one point an infant was placed outside the doorway of an apartment. When officers approached to rescue the child from the incident, shots again rang out. Nine officers were hurt in the incident.

The summer months have been dangerous this year.

In an attempt to serve a protection order on a domestic violence suspect in eastern Kentucky in June. Three Kentucky law enforcement officers were killed with the suspect fired from inside the home.

In June, two police officers from El Monte, a suburb of Los Angeles, were shot and killed while responding to a motel disturbance. The attacker fired on officers from a balcony into the parking lot as the officers approached.

Also in June, a Naperville Police officer was on a traffic stop when a man unrelated to the contact approached the officer to attack him with a hatchet. Fortunately, in this case, the man was shot by the officer before he was able to complete his attempted murder.

In July of this year, Rochester New York officers were fired on while sitting in an unmarked car in a plainclothes assignment. “Officer Mazurkiewicz and his partner, Officer Sino Seng, were attacked in a cowardly ambush and fell victim to the very violence in our community that we are trying to combat”, said Rochester Police Chief David Smith. Mazurkiewicz died in the attack.

In Chicago in July, officers were getting ready to exit an elevator to check on a disturbance call and were immediately met by gunfire. One Chicago police officer was critically wounded. Also in July a Detroit officer was shot and killed through an upstairs window while arriving at a call before he even got out of his patrol car.

Three officers were shot responding to a call at a residence in HALTOM CITY, Texas in July. While still down the block approaching the home of a man suspected of shooting a neighbor, the suspect fired, spraying bullets in the officers’ direction and leaving bullet holes in homes and cars in the area.

Other infamous cases include four officers murdered while meeting over paperwork at a restaurant in Lakewood, Washington in 2009. In 2014 NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were sitting in the patrol car when a man who had traveled to the city with the specific intent of killing police officers stepped up to the passenger side window and began shooting. Five Dallas police officers were murdered and nine others were injured at a protest march where officers were providing protection for the event.

The reality for today’s law enforcement officers is that there are few safe places. In a patrol car, stopping for coffee, helping change a motorist’s flat tire, and even in the driveways of their own homes and parking lots of their police station have all been opportunities for killers to attempt to kill. A constant alert is the only path to survival.


This article originally appeared at The National Police Association


Share and speak up for justice, law & order...
Tags: ambushNational Police AssociationNPApolice
National Police Association

National Police Association

The National Police Association is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization, IRS NTEE classification code B01, Alliance/Advocacy Organizations, within the Educational Organizations category, EIN 82-0647764, founded to educate supporters of law enforcement in how to help police departments accomplish their goals. The National Police Association is supported solely through contributions of individuals and organizations. Donations are tax deductible.

Related Posts

Policing Won’t Be Fixed Until Honest Dialog is Established

March 5, 2023
Kentucky bill

The ‘War on Cops’ Has Increased the Risk for Police Malfeasance

March 5, 2023
gun laws

Refusing to Enforce Existing Gun Laws While Nullifying Gun/Self-Defense Rights

February 7, 2023

Courageous Nobility

February 5, 2023

Why Cops “Shoot to Kill”?

February 5, 2023
National Police Association

National Police Association files amicus brief opposing Oregon’s attempt to criminalize law abiding gun owners

February 2, 2023
Load More

Latest Articles

Florida officer

Florida officer survives getting hit and flipped by fleeing suspect vehicle

March 23, 2023
Jeremy McCain

Oklahoma County sheriff’s deputy dies more than a week after breaking neck in freak accident

March 23, 2023
Austin Lyle

Colorado high school shooting suspect found dead

March 23, 2023
Glen Robert Anderson

Former middle school paraprofessional sentenced to 20 years in child sextortion case

March 23, 2023
sniper rifle

Gust of wind blows sniper’s rifle off rooftop during St. Patrick’s Day parade in Buffalo

March 22, 2023
Ian Mitchell

‘Suave New York City conman’ dangles out window of high-rise as FBI serves search warrant

March 22, 2023
Load More

Weekly E-Newsletter

Subscribe—and get the latest news and editorials direct from Law Officer each week!

[newsletter_form type="minimal"]

JOIN THE FIGHT

BE COURAGEOUS

FIND MORE…

Law Officer

© 2021 LawOfficer.com

LawOfficer.com

  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact

Speak up for justice, law & order

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Authors
  • Articles
    • Archives
    • Chaplain
    • Crime & Controversy
    • Community
    • Cop Humor
    • Editorial
    • Op-ed
    • Gear & Technology
    • Investigations
    • Laws & Legal
    • Leadership
    • News
    • Officer Down
    • On Duty
    • Tactics
  • Network
    • Illinois Network
    • Minneapolis Network
    • Tulsa Network
    • Wauwatosa Network
    • Learn more
  • Training
  • Officer Privacy
  • Jobs
  • Contact

© 2021 LawOfficer.com