Targeted violence against law enforcement officers

Abstract

As highly visible representatives and guardians of society, law enforcement officers (LEOs) are very public figures. Injury or death in the line of duty, whether due to accidents or intentional acts of violence, is an occupational hazard for LEOs. Targeted assaults on police officers, referred to as ambushes in previous literature, are a particularly perplexing problem with significant implications for society at large. In the summer of 2016, the latest in a series of high-profile acts of violence aimed at police occurred, leading to increased examination of the acts themselves and their causes. This article examines recent trends in assaults on LEOs, focusing on predatory rather than reactive attacks, and applies a threat assessment model to a case of targeted violence against police. We use State of Washington v. Christopher Monfort (2015), a prosecution for arson, assault with intent to murder, and murder, as a case example, to examine how the threat assessment model, and the concepts of affective versus predatory violence help in understanding targeted violence against LEOs, assessing its risk, and managing it. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

‘There’s Gonna Be Bad Apples’: Police–Community Relations through the Lens of Media Exposure Among University Students

“…In their discussion of prior scholarship, Schouten and Brennan (2016) explain various reasons for violence against the police, including suicide by police pursuits (Mohandie, Meloy and Collins 2009), attempts to further criminal enterprises, planned acts of retaliation and extremist mission violence (Gruenewald, Dooley, Suttmoeller, Chermak and Freilich 2016).…”

Pain, Injury, Mortality: Police Confront Critical Incidents

“…Ambush style attacks on law enforcement is a type of violence called predatory violence that is purposeful and planned, however planning does not need to be involved (Schouten & Brennan, 2016). Borowitz 2005describes goals of an ambush from purely psychological in nature exacting revenge, expressing anger and frustration over an unsatisfied grievance, or fulfilling a desire for notoriety (Schouten & Brennan, 2016). Ambushes are planned offenses and directed at an individual(s).…”

“…Two types of ambushes are entrapment and spontaneous ambushes. Schouten & Brennan (2016) further describe an entrapment ambush as the victim being purposely lured into a trap where the assailant carries out the assault. Whereas a spontaneous ambush is described as crimes of opportunity with the decision to attack made at the time of the encounter; the attack happens in the moment.…”

“…For some, the uniform, the badge, and the patrol According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) studies (UCR;FBI, 2012FBI, -2016, an average of 94 officers are killed in the line of duty each year, including both felonious and accidental deaths. Law enforcement officials across jurisdictions are being shot, hit by vehicles, stabbed, and more recently have become victims of ambush style attacks; being targets of planned acts of directed violence which have left unsuspecting officers injured or dead simply because of the uniform and badge that they wear (Schouten & Brennan, 2016).…”

“…Schouten and Brennan (2016), describe spontaneous assaults that occur "in an effort to resist arrest, although they may also be opportunistic expressions of hostility during an encounter between law enforcement officers (LEO) and someone who rejects police authority and presence" (p. 608). Conversely, planned assaults on LEOs can not only be acts of retaliation but can also occur in attempts to advance criminal enterprises, during extremist ideology missions, and efforts to provoke a police-involved shooting with the goal of suicide-by-cop as the end result (Schouten & Brennan, 2016). Whether spontaneous or planned, law enforcement officers are being assaulted and injured in the process of doing their jobs.…”