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U.S. Attorney
General Loretta Lynch will address the annual gathering of the
International Association of Chiefs of Police in Chicago at a
time when Democratic President Barack Obama is seeking police
support for new measures to reduce U.S. incarceration rates and
sentencing reform proposals in Congress.
Details of the report on ambush attacks and a second one on
officers' health and safety were not immediately available.
Ambush attacks account for an increasing portion of police
fatalities, totaling 36 over the past decade and seven in 2014
alone, the FBI said.
These included the double ambush of New York Police Department
Officers Wenjian Liu, 32, and Rafael Ramos, 40, in December.
They were shot and killed while sitting in their patrol car in
Brooklyn by Ismaayil Brinsley.
Brinsley had posted on social media about his anger over the
cases of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, black men who died as a
result of force while being arrested by white police officers.
FBI Director James Comey said in a speech on Friday that fear of
being accused of brutal tactics had sent a "chill wind" through
U.S. law enforcement in the past year, making police less
effective at cracking down on violent crime.
On Tuesday, the administration also issued a new guidebook of
actions that elected officials and law enforcement officers can
take to build trust and legitimacy within their communities,
such as reviewing and updating policies on the use of force.
Members of a new national group of law enforcement leaders who
support reducing crime and incarceration met Obama at the White
House last week to discuss topics such as mandatory minimum
sentences and the Black Lives Matter movement.
(Additional reporting by Julia Edwards; Editing by Kevin
Drawbaugh and Paul Tait)
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