Ambush and Surprise Attacks of Officers on Foot

By Jim Weiss, Mickey Davis and Bob O’Brien

Policing is a profession where a degree of danger and risk are expected and accepted as police tragically die protecting the public they serve. This is evidenced by the more than 20,000 names of fallen officers etched on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The two consistent leading causes of Line of Duty Deaths (LODD) in America each year are gunfire and vehicles.

Vehicle related LODD’s mostly involve accidents. Since law enforcement (LE) is a 24/7, 365-days-a-year profession, most officers to spend much of their time in their vehicles. Because of this, LE devotes tremendous effort to try to reduce vehicle LODDs through improved safety training, protocols, vehicles, equipment, etc.

Gunfire LODDs are a different matter.

Dangerous Times

Throughout American police history, three time periods stand out as more deadly and dangerous for police.

1930s: Coinciding with the Great Depression was the rise of the violent “gangster era.” Emboldened bootleggers, armed robbers, and other notorious criminals were willing to ambush and shoot, often using shotguns and even submachineguns against often-outgunned police.

This resulted in a significant spike in gunfire LODDs at the hands of the hardcore criminal element. It also led to the rise of the FBI to more effectively deal with highly mobile gangsters who crossed state lines to evade capture.

Notably, throughout the 1930s, the American pu...