Police officers Benjamin Deen, 34, and Liquori Tate, 25, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, were murdered in the line of duty late Saturday during what they thought was a routine traffic stop. It’s a mournful reminder of the dangers law enforcement personnel face every time they put on a uniform. Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation published preliminary numbers on police fatalities for 2014, and, statistically speaking, that danger appears to be on the increase. According to the report, “51 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2014. This is an increase of almost 89 percent when compared to the 27 officers killed in 2013.” Especially noteworthy, it adds, “From 1980–2014, an average of 64 law enforcement officers have been feloniously killed per year. The 2013 total, 27, was the lowest during this 35-year period.”

While it’s true that even last year’s figure was slightly below the average, and averages are based on extremes both high and low, the daunting question remains: Is the year-over-year spike merely a coincidence, or a sign of something bigger? Investor’s Business Daily has pointed out, “FBI crime data over the past decade show that African-Americans commit a disproportionately high 40% of all cop-killings — more than three times their representation in the population.” Just recently, Brian Moore, a white officer with the New York Police Department, was murdered by Demetrius Blackwell, a black man. Meanwhile, the suspects in this weekend’s shooting also were black. So even if this most recent atrocity wasn’t racially motivated, the suspects are only exemplifying the reasons blacks are disproportionately profiled.

A final point: Mark Alexander argues that the increase in 2014 was directly related to Barack Obama’s race-based rhetoric.