Though certain groups are clearly unsettlingly committed to perpetuating the myth of a "war on cops" instigated by the growing #BlackLivesMatter movement, the actual figures simply do not support any version of this alternate reality. Not only has the number of police officers killed by gunfire dropped this year by a reported 13 percent, but the actual likelihood of an officer being shot and killed is profoundly low, especially when compared with an issue actually impacting the field of law enforcement: suicide.
126 police officers committed suicide in 2013, the last year such statistics are available on public record. As noted by the Daily Kos, this number is overwhelmingly higher than the 43 officers projected to be killed in the line of duty in 2015. Some experts argue that the suicide rate would potentially be much higher, theorizing that many suicides are likely misreported as accidental deaths:
"Suicides can happen in any profession, but they occur 1.5 times more frequently in law enforcement compared to the general population. Quite truthfully, the actual rate is probably higher as law enforcement suicides are more likely to be underreported or misclassified as accidental deaths. This misclassification usually occurs to protect the family, other survivors, or the agency from the stigma of suicide."
With this "war on cops" preposterousness continually debunked, perhaps society can return its focus to an issue with actual urgency and statistical validity: police brutality.
