This is significant food for thought. Though the numbers, which work out to an average of exactly one per state, are very much, perhaps obscenely, on the LEO side of the ledger, this increase may go some way to explain the increasing "wartime" mentality of the police here.
Importantly, the article compares 2014 to 2013 which was a year when on-dudy fatalities took a "dramatic dip" to their lowest point in over a century. The article doesn't address how the 2014 numbers compare to a "typical" year or say 2012. This glaring oversight gives permission for law enforcement people to make statements like this... and, of course, worse:
"With the increasing number of ambush-style attacks against our officers, I am deeply concerned that a growing anti-government sentiment in America is influencing weak-minded individuals to launch violent assaults against the men and women working to enforce our laws and keep our nation safe."
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...rs-jump-report
John