The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said in a report that 144 U.S. federal, state and local officers have died so far in 2018. That figure represents roughly a 12 per cent increase from the 129 who died in 2017.

Ambushes in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and other shootings around the country led to a sharp increase in the number of police killed in the line of duty this year.

Shooting deaths of law enforcement officers spiked 78 per cent in the first half of 2016 compared to last year.