President Trump signed three executive orders last week related to law enforcement, including one that directs the Justice Department to use applicable federal laws against those who assault police officers and to explore the possibility of developing new laws to address police safety.
The order, which Trump signed at the swearing-in of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, comes on the heels of the deadliest year for American law enforcement since 2011. According to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, 135 police officers died in the line of duty in 2016, including 64 who were shot and killed, a 56 percent increase over 2015, when 41 officers were killed by gunfire.
In Philadelphia, assaults against police have been decreasing in recent years.
According to data from the Philadelphia Police Department, there were 55 percent fewer assaults against police officers in 2015 than in 2007.
And while assaults against police were on the rise through September of last year -- the most recent year for which statistics are available -- the pace was still lower than in many previous years, when the number of assaults against police regularly exceeded 1,000 annually.
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| Assaults against Philadelphia police officers, 2007-15 |
Still, decreasing totals do not account for the brutality of several recent attacks against officers in Philadelphia.
Last January, Officer Jesse Hartnett was wounded during an ambush-style attack in West Philadelphia while sitting in his patrol car.
In September, Officer Sylvia Young survived after being hit by six bullets while she was ambushed by a rampaging gunman in West Philadelphia.
Officer Ed Miller of the University of Pennsylvania's police force was injured in that attack as well. Miller returned to work last week.
National police organizations, such as the Fraternal Order of Police -- which endorsed Trump in the election -- and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association praised the executive order last week.
"As a candidate, Donald Trump made it clear to our members that law enforcement was a priority for him," Chuck Canterbury, national president of the FOP, said in a statement, adding that 253 police officers were shot on the job last year. "The orders he signed … [are] just further evidence that his word is good and that this president will deliver on his promises."
Darrel W. Stephens, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said he was encouraged that the order called for examining assaults against police in order to determine the appropriate federal response.
"I don't know if what's happened in Philadelphia is universal," he said. "It would be nice if it was, [but] it wouldn't necessarily obviate the need for taking a second look at the things that are contributing to the injuries of police officers."
