[noyz]

Here

Deaths in the line of duty jumped 37 percent to about 160 from 117 the year before..."

Hopefully we can see an improvement in 2011 and not such horrible numbers. I'm sure if we got firearms into the hands of informed and trained citizens we could provide "back-up" in a sense. The Police can't always be around to stop crime, and its more common for citizens to be around than an LEO. Now we just need citizens willing to do something to be around.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

I am not going to move this topic from In the News, because the first couple of paragraphs make it sound like all of these officers are being shot, but the truth, as the article later reveals, is that shooting deaths are barely one third of the total. Also, this one year "increase" is coming off of a 50 year low, to put it into perspective.

 

[AeroShooter]

This is a thought provoking quote:

"It's a cascading effect of the people thinking police are here to serve and protect them on an individual basis" instead of acting as an arm of the government, she [Maria Haberfeld, a professor of police science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice] said. "We spend hours teaching children about Shakespeare and history, but we don't devote even an hour a week to the role of police in creating the world in which we live."