Attacks against Valley police officers are on the rise.
Late Saturday night, bullets slammed into the Parlier Police Department. Fortunately, there were no injuries.
24 hours later, a California Highway Patrol officer in Bakersfield was not as lucky when a suspect in a car shot at him on the side of the road. A bullet proof vest may have saved his life.
Nationwide, there has been a 42% spike in police officers killed in the line of duty over the last two years.
Fresno has been hit with a 25% increase in assaults on officers.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says guns, gangs, and California's early prisoner release are all triggering the troubling trend. "Certainly there's a message in society today that the consequences aren't as severe as they used to be. We have a downsizing of the prison population, we have overcrowding at the local jails…" said Chief Dyer.
Police are taking precautions, using new tools to train smarter and sharper. “Police officers today are more aware; more aware of the dangers involved in the job, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that more and more officers are under attack,” said Dyer.
Chief Dyer says he hasn't lost a single officer in his 10 years as Fresno’s police chief. He credits heightened awareness.
Late Saturday night, bullets slammed into the Parlier Police Department. Fortunately, there were no injuries.
24 hours later, a California Highway Patrol officer in Bakersfield was not as lucky when a suspect in a car shot at him on the side of the road. A bullet proof vest may have saved his life.
Nationwide, there has been a 42% spike in police officers killed in the line of duty over the last two years.
Fresno has been hit with a 25% increase in assaults on officers.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says guns, gangs, and California's early prisoner release are all triggering the troubling trend. "Certainly there's a message in society today that the consequences aren't as severe as they used to be. We have a downsizing of the prison population, we have overcrowding at the local jails…" said Chief Dyer.
Police are taking precautions, using new tools to train smarter and sharper. “Police officers today are more aware; more aware of the dangers involved in the job, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that more and more officers are under attack,” said Dyer.
Chief Dyer says he hasn't lost a single officer in his 10 years as Fresno’s police chief. He credits heightened awareness.