Police officers 'keenly aware' they are targets for violence

CHICAGO (AP) — The shootings of police officers in Texas and Missouri on Sunday were the latest in what law enforcement officials say is an alarming spike in ambush-style attacks.

The San Antonio detective was writing a traffic ticket in his squad car Sunday morning outside police headquarters when he was shot to death.

[...] Marconi's was the fourth targeted slaying of an officer this month:

The worst single attack was in July, when a black military veteran killed five white officers at a protest in Dallas — the deadliest day for American law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001.

[...] he said, white men are responsible for most police slayings, and the majority of people shot and killed by poIice are white.

Some officers have been killed by people who identify with the so-called sovereign citizen movement, whose adherents believe they're immune to most state and federal laws, including paying taxes and getting driver's licenses.

The man who shot and killed the two Iowa officers earlier this month as they sat in their patrol cars had a history of contacts with police, including a recent confrontation with officers at a high school football game.