Wisconsin traffic stop shootout highlights the risk they pose to police officers
'Please don't let me die,' an injured Wisconsin officer says after he's been shot
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Wisconsin police department released footage of an officer-involved shooting, which left one cop injured and the suspect dead, to highlight the bravery of police and the dangers they face while protecting the community.
"What you’ll see in this video is the kind of danger police officers face every day. You will see their bravery. Their heroism. Their commitment to this community," police chief of the Greenfield Police Department, Jay Johnson, said in a video showing the scene.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The video showed an officer get shot at point-blank range by a suspect, later identified as 31-year-old Tyran Lamb of Milwaukee, after running a red light. The suspect ultimately died near the scene, and the officer was left recovering from his injuries.
"The fact is police officers around the country are trying to do the right thing for the right reasons. This country needs to unite and come together and support the police," Johnson added in comment to Fox News on Sunday.
The incident is just one of many across the country showing the dangers police face on a daily basis.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Law enforcement officers say traffic stops are one of the most dangerous encounters police can have, with cops often navigating situations where they find drugs in vehicles, come across drivers or passengers with warrants, and approach vehicles with tinted windows. One in eight officers who were feloniously killed died during a traffic stop, FBI statistics from 2019 show.
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During an Illinois traffic stop over the summer, for example, one officer was seen on dashcam footage being attacked, repeatedly hit in the head and strangled to the point he lost the "ability to breathe."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Another traffic stop in February left one Virginia officer fatally shot before he even left the patrol vehicle.
The dangers officers face has also spread to ambush attacks on police, which the National Fraternal Order of Police said increased by at least 91% this year as of June when compared to 2020.
The group warned against a "surge in violence against the brave men and women of law enforcement."
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In one such ambush attack in Florida, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said two of his deputies were conducting a traffic stop before they were ambushed and shot at by a suspect on Aug. 30.
"The attack and ambush [were] perpetrated by a violent, career criminal, with a history of 40 charges for crimes including drug trafficking, aggravated assault while discharging a firearm, battery on a law enforcement officer, and attempted first-degree felony murder," Ivey said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The incident lasted about a minute, and resulted in the suspect dying and 61 rounds fired.
"Let there be no doubt, this individual got exactly what he deserved," the sheriff said. "And to those out there that might be foolish enough to ask why we shot him so many times, the answer is simple: evil can never be dead enough."
Louisiana Master Trooper Adam Gaubert was shot and killed on Saturday, in what police described as an ambush attack.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Trooper Gaubert embodied everything we stand for; honor, duty, selfless service, and courage. In the days ahead, we will mourn his tragic death and honor his service to our department and the citizens of Louisiana," a statement on the agency’s Facebook page reads. "At this time, we ask that you please respect Trooper Gaubert’s family’s privacy."
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Police around the nation are also currently grappling with staffing shortages, which various officials have partly attributed to the anti-police sentiment that swept the country last year amid protests following the death of George Floyd.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Police are being vilified across the country, they're being painted as racist occupiers, just going in like an occupying army, trying to disrupt communities when it's exactly the opposite. They're being demonized and vilified by politicians," Angel Maysonet, 22-year veteran of the NYPD told "Fox & Friends" in April