Spokane Police Guild

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US police fatalities up 13 percent in 2011 to 173

One Oregon police chief was killed when a man allegedly took the officer's gun and shot him in the head. A policeman in Arizona was fatally shot when he went to a suburban Phoenix apartment complex to help a probation officer. And two South Dakota officers were killed in a shootout after a traffic stop. An overwhelming majority of Americans oppose taking away some of the collective bargaining rights that public employee unions now have and almost as many oppose cutting the pay or benefits of those workers, according to a nationwide New York Times/CBS News poll conducted Feb. 24-27.

New York (CNN) -- The number of police officers who have died in the line of duty in 2011 has increased 14 percent nationwide from last year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

WACOPS Legislative Priorities

Pension Contribution Rates (Operating Budgets SB 5094 & HB 1087) Keep the rate levels adopted by the LEOFF 2 Board. These rate levels enable the Board to meet its goals of maintaining the financial integrity of the plan and avoid unaffordable hikes in required payments for plan members, local governments, and the state in future years.

According to statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 72 officers were killed by perpetrators in 2011, a 25 percent increase from the previous year and a 75 percent increase from 2008. The 2011 deaths were the first time that more officers were killed by suspects than car accidents, according to data compiled by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The number was the highest in nearly two decades, excluding those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

You are confronting an armed suspect, no cover available. He faces you, with his gun at his side, pointed at the ground. Your gun is aimed at him and you’re ready to shoot. He ignores your commands to drop his weapon. Are you justified in pulling the trigger before he makes any move to point his gun at you? According to conclusions reached by researchers in a unique new reaction-time study, your preemptively shooting under such circumstances may well be considered reasonable by the standards of Graham v. Connor.

Guild Press Release
The Spokane Police Guild exists to ensure all members receive due process under law. Our members pay their dues to have access to the collective support of their organization.
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Donation to Community
The Wishing Star Foundation, in Spokane Washington, has been the victims of two recent burglaries and more than $1,000 in items have been stolen from that office. In the latest burglary gifts for a 4yr old cancer patient were stolen. As a result, the Spokane Police Guild Executive Board Office elected to donate $500 to the Wishing Star Foundation.
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