RICHMOND, Va. -- The National Fraternal Order of Police released their statistics on December 1, revealing that 350 officers were shot nationwide so far in 2023.
42 of the officers were killed in the line of duty.
In Central Virginia, four law enforcement officers have been shot in just a month.
"When people hear 'Oh you survived then everything is ok.' Well it's not. These officers carry injuries with them. They carry the trauma. Their families live the trauma with them," Dana Schrad, the Executive Director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police said.
The four shootings of officers in Central Virginia occurred from October 25 to November 30:
- A Homeland Security agent was shot while serving a search warrant in Dinwiddie on October 25
- A state trooper was shot in Petersburg on November 2
- A Virginia State University police officer was shot from behind on November 12
- A Henrico police officer was shot through the window of his car while at the scene of an attempted robbery scene on November 30
The National Fraternal Order of Police reports that a total of 8 officers were shot in all of Virginia during this time last year.
There have been seven shootings in Virginia so far this year.
"One of our concerns is there's a perception that there are no consequences when you attack a law enforcement officer," Schrad said. "The other concern is there is a growing number of ghost guns in our communities and those are ones you can manufacture with a 3D printer and can order online from a foreign country. It's been very difficult to get those kinds of guns out of the hands of criminals."
Schrad says not only do the incidents affect morale, but recruitment and retention as well.
She adds that keeping officers on the job is a tough task nowadays.
"We are trying to keep officers in the profession and encourage that law enforcement is still a noble job," said Keith Culver with the Vale Foundation, an organization that honors fallen police officers and their families. "What a lot of people don't understand is they see a lot of bad things about police on the news and such but real statistics show that less than half of one percent of officers dishonor their badge."
The Virginia State University police officer who was shot, Bruce Foster, was paralyzed as a result of his injuries. However, CBS 6 is told he does have a chance of recovering.
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