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Ambushes of police are rising again at a difficult time for law enforcement

 
Published Oct. 28, 2015

WASHINGTON — The number of ambushes of police officers has been creeping back up in recent years, creating concern among law enforcement officials at a time when relations between police and the communities they serve are particularly fraught.

The number of surprise assaults on police rose to about 250 incidents per year between 2008 and 2013, up from about 200 per year during the previous 10-year period, according to a Justice Department study released Tuesday. Those figures were still far lower than in the 1990s, when ambushes peaked one year above 500.

The recent uptick has concerned officials. "In an era of strained community relations and struggles with police legitimacy, violence against police is of particular concern," said Ronald L. Davis, director of community-oriented policing at the Justice Department.

The report found a direct correlation between violent crime and ambushes against police.

But to the embarrassment of the Justice Department, which has been heavily advocating community-oriented policing, the study also found a small statistical correlation suggesting the number of ambushes was higher in places with a greater level of community-oriented policing activities.

It called the finding "confounding" but asserted that "it is not within the realm of any plausible theory that community-oriented policing is a contributing factor to violence against the police."

Factors that lowered the risk of police ambushes were higher education levels among police recruits and the use of cameras mounted on police cars, the report said.