Ex-Chicago Police Chief Wants Police Killing to Be a Federal Crime: ‘Attacks on Cops’ Up Since 2020

formerChicago police The chief says violent ambushes and killings of police officers in the line of duty must be punishable as a federal crime and is calling on President-elect Donald Trump to move the effort forward.

“Attacks on policemen they’re certainly on the rise since 2020, and what’s really on the rise is ambushes,” retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “There have been more ambushes of police officers in the last two to three years than ever before, and that goes for anything from an ordinary officer sitting in a police car, or writing a report, or he or she is on assignment, and someone walks up and shoots a police officer right in the police by car.”

“It’s happened a few times over the last few years, or fake 911 calls where — the whole purpose of the call [is] make the officer respond and open fire on that officer and kill that officer. This has happened many times. We never saw that, you know, 10 years ago,” he added.

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Currently, the killing of state or local law enforcement officers can result in federal punishment only if the killing is committed to influence or retaliate against the officer’s official duties and involves interstate commerce or federal jurisdiction. Although some laws have been passed in recent years to curb the rise in police killings, there is no official federal law that makes killing a police officer a crime in any state because most cases prosecuted under state law.

States generally treat the killing of a police officer as a serious form of murder that can carry harsh penalties, including life in prison or the death penalty.

“What I’m looking for is uniformity, and I’m looking forward to giving family and loved ones some relief that things are being done right, and I know for a fact that they’re not being prosecuted and investigated the same way in every state in America. That’s not happening,” he said. Weitzel.

Weitzel, who was nearly killed in an ambush shooting while a police officer, said he sent letters to his state lawmakers, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, and to Biden and previous of the Trump administrationbut only received a response from Trump’s DOJ with a list of best practices. Last week, Weitzel sent another letter to Trump urging him to look at the proposal.

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“There’s still an unsolved police homicide in the west suburbs of Chicago, and it really got me thinking, like we need to get experts from an outside agency to do this. I’m not criticizing the local police, I’m just saying we want it to be uniform,” he said.

FBI data shows a significant increase in police officer deaths across the country between 2020 and 2023, with nearly 200 police officers killed criminally over the three years. In Chicago, the police department saw several of its officers killed last year: Officer Andres Mauricio Vasquez Lasso on March 1st and Officer Arenah M. Preston on May 6th. Officer Enrique Martinez, 26, was killed in November during a traffic stop in the city’s East Chatham neighborhood.

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“President Trump has publicly stated that he is a law and order president. He has stated that he supports law enforcement, many ideals and laws about law enforcement,” Weitzel said. “So it’s a good time to at least push this, because we have someone in the White House who says he’s willing to work and pass legislation and funding with local police forces.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Trump’s transition team for comment, but had not heard back by press time.