Statistics gathered by Alaska State Troopers show the state has seen an increase in assaults against law enforcement.
The head of the state patrol says officers are dealing with more aggressive behavior from suspects.
Col. Keith Mallard says law enforcement officials take every possible step to capture individuals without violence. But sometimes the behavior of a suspect puts the police officer’s life or other people’s lives in danger.
Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics show an upward trend in the number of assaults against officers in Alaska, while nationally, the numbers have decreased.
In Alaska in 2010, the most recent statistics available, 386 officers were assaulted. That’s an increase over the 315 officer assaults in 2009 and 287 in 2008.
