"Police officers have increasingly become the targets of lethal violence. They are symbols of authority, and they have a collective bull's-eye on their backs.

In 2011, 70 police officers were killed by suspects, a 25 percent increase from a year ago, said Craig W. Floyd, executive director of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. Since 2008, the number of officers slain in the United States has soared by 75 percent, Floyd said."

Details.

Any theories?

And the other side of that coin...

"County officials are looking into an almost 70% spike in fatal officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles County last year but said it's too early to tell what, if anything, drove the jump.

Fifty-four people were fatally shot by authorities in 2011, according to autopsy reports analyzed by The Times, an increase all the more notable because it occurred at a time when the number of homicides in the area fell to historic lows. With 612 people killed in the county last year, nearly 1 in every 10 such deaths occurred at the hands of law enforcement officers."

Details.