FBI director says violence directed at police officers unlike anything he’s seen before

FBI director says violence directed at police officers unlike anything he’s seen before

FBI Director Christpher Wray addressed the skyrocketing rate of murders against police officers Sunday, saying the surge is far outpacing general violent crime.

Wray made the comments during a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday, saying murders of police officers rose 59% in 2021. The total murder rate rose 29% last year, and the U.S. lost 73 police officers to such attacks in 2021.

“Violence against law enforcement in this country is one of the biggest phenomena that I think doesn’t get enough attention,” Wray said, adding that officers are being murdered at a rate of nearly “one every five days.”

Director Christopher A. Wray speaks during a news conference at FBI headquarters in Washington on June 14, 2018.  (Mark WIlson/Getty Images)

“Some of it is tied to the violent crime problem as a whole. But one of the phenomena that we saw in the last year is that an alarming percentage of the 73 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty last year were killed through things like being ambushed or shot while out on patrol. … Wearing the badge shouldn’t make you a target,” he continued.