A Closer Look at the Alleged “War on Cops”: Post-Ferguson Trends in Ideologically-Motivated Homicides of Police Officers, 2008–2021

Abstract

Some proponents of the “war on cops” thesis have suggested that the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement encourages people to murder police officers and is responsible for many civilian-on-police homicides. To evaluate such claims, this study examines all homicides of on-duty police officers by civilians from 2008 to 2021 ( n = 595) for ideological motives, and uses interrupted times series analysis to test for post-Ferguson trends. Ideological motivations were present in 12% of civilian-on-police homicides, and only 3% constituted terrorism. Right-wing motivations were far more common (6%) than left-wing motives (3%). Most analyses showed no significant increase in ideological civilian-on-police homicides after Ferguson. Although homicides with left-wing motives unconnected to personal revenge significantly increased after Ferguson, this only accounts for a small proportion of post-Ferguson homicides (4%). In short, there is no evidence that BLM unleashed a “war on cops” in which officers are increasingly targeted in ideological homicides.