AMARILLO, TEXAS -- In the last 24 hours, 11 police officers have been shot in five different states. Several are in critical condition, two officers are dead in St. Petersburg, Florida, suspects and innocent bystanders were killed. The officers in St. Petersburg were the first officers to be killed on duty since 1980. Nationally, 14 officers have been killed since the first of the year, and 12 of those were deaths by gunfire.

In Detroit, four officers were shot, after a gunman rushed the precinct with his weapon drawn. Four officers were hit, Sunday afternoon before police killed the 38-year-old shooter. All officers are expected to recover, but the incident has raised concerns about security.

Also on Sunday, an officer conducting a traffic stop in Indianapolis was shot in the face twice. The 29-year-old officer is in critical condition.

An officer from Lincoln City, Oregon is also in critical condition fighting for his life, after he was shot during a traffic stop.

And a shootout at Walmart in Port Orchard on Sunday left two dead, and two deputies with Kitsap County injured. The two deputies shot were the first Kitsap County sheriff's deputies to be shot in the line of duty since 1978.

Locally, police are trained to realize their lives are on the line every time they go out on patrol and it's something that's constantly on their minds as well.

If you get pulled over, you may notice police officers actions, including often times having their hands on the weapons or approaching your car in a way that makes it hard to see them.

Police are trained to be suspicious because they never know what's waiting for them, according to Corporal Jerry Neufeld.

"For all we know, you may be the guy with the gun that's fixing to shoot us. So, we're going to take precautions, we're going to stand off to the side, we're going to approach you from the back of the car, or on the passenger's side, it's just purely officer safety."

Neufeld says to help them out, you should leave your hands on the steering wheel until they get to the car and don't reach for anything like your license or insurance papers until you're asked to do so.

The last Amarillo officer to die in the line of duty, was Mark Simmons who was subsequently killed following a car accident in 2005.