The Boulder Police Department is on pace for an increase this year in assaults on its officers — a trend that is being reflected in other police departments as well.
It would be the third straight year of rising police assault numbers for the department, and statewide statistics indicate it may be more than just a Boulder problem.
Through Thursday, there had been assaults this year on 34 Boulder police officers out of 68,346 calls requiring an officer response.
At this time last year, there had been 24 assaults on Boulder officers, and the department finished the year with 44. In 2011, there were 33 assaults all year.
“Anytime an officer gets assaulted, it’s a concern … to everyone in the department,” said Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner.
In 2012, 827 law enforcement officers across the state were assaulted, and the numbers have been rising every year since 2009, when there were 758, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Nationally, the FBI tallied 54,774 law enforcement officers assaulted in 2011, the most recent year for which the bureau has such statistics, up from 53,469 in 2010.
The rate of assaults on officers was 10.2 in every 100 in 2011, up from 10 in every 100 in 2010.
“It’s probably too early to say definitively, but we are seeing some trends nationally of assaults on officers, and it is a concern across the nation for police chiefs and police officers,” Beckner said.
