NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. — Since 2023, nine police officers and first responders have died in the line of duty in our region.
These tragic moments are fortunately few and far between, but law enforcement leaders say assaults against police officers happen nearly every day in the state of Minnesota.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) tracks assaults against officers and the numbers show a significant increase over the last decade.
In 2017, data shows 419 officers were assaulted in the line of duty in Minnesota. Three years later that number doubled to 794 assault victims in 2020. By 2023, the number of assaults had nearly tripled with 1,179 officers assaulted on the job.
And it's not just assaults.
In 2017, the BCA says police officers were shot at 16 times in the field. That number nearly quadrupled in 2023 with 59 officers experiencing gunfire in the line of duty.
“That’s very concerning,” Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association Executive Director Jeff Potts said. “There’s a portion of our population that is significantly more violent than they were five years ago, and I think law enforcement is trying to figure out how to deal with it.”
Over the same time period the BCA is reporting fewer officer-involved shootings.
In 2020, the BCA says Minnesota police officers fired their weapons in the line of duty 35 times, killing eight people, and wounding 10 others.
In 2023, the BCA says police fired their weapons 17 times — not including accidental discharges — killing seven and wounding five.
"Every agency in the state of Minnesota is trying to figure out how to perfect the art of de-escalating tense, or crisis situations, and we'll continue to do that,” Potts said.
But why are officers facing more violence on the job?
Potts argues one reason is society overall is more violent. Minnesota is seeing some progress in terms of violent crime, but Potts says the numbers are still higher than they were before the pandemic.
Potts says he's also hearing about more situations where officers are encountering guns in the community.
"It seems like we're hearing about that at a much more frequent basis," he said. "I don't have the data to back that up, that compared to 2019 we’re higher, but I'm just saying I personally hear about it more often than I used to.”
Potts says law enforcement leaders are searching for an answer to this alarming increase in violence, but at the end of the day…
"I don't think we have a great answer to it,” Potts says.
"I would love to give you the answer to that. I think we're trying to figure it out. We're continuing to train and work with our public safety workforce to better be able to navigate those kinds of calls but what they're facing out on the street is very concerning to all of us."
Here is a breakdown of the assaults against Minnesota police officers over the last few years:
*Numbers are according to data compiled by the Minnesota BCA
2023
- 938 officer assault incidents, 1,179 officers assaulted
- 59 firearm assaults
2022
- 859 officer assault incidents, 1,062 officers assaulted
- 41 firearm assaults
2021
- 900 officer assault incidents, 1,112 officers assaulted
- 40 firearm assaults
2020
- 667 officer assault incidents, 794 officers assaulted.
- 38 firearm assaults
2019
- 413 officer assault incidents, 467 officers assaulted.
- 10 firearm assaults
2018
- 416 officer assault incidents, 487 officers assaulted.
- 3 firearm assaults
2017
- 371 officer assault incidents, 419 officers assaulted.
- 16 firearm assaults
Minnesota police use of force incidents according to Minnesota BCA:
2023
- Weapon Discharged: 17 times, 7 killed, 5 people wounded
2022
- Weapon Discharged: 20 times, 11 killed, 7 wounded
2021
- Weapon Discharged: 25 times, 12 killed, 6 wounded
2020
- Weapon Discharged: 35 times, 8 killed, 10 wounded
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