PHOENIX, Arizona — The Phoenix Police Department (PPD) has lost 20 officers to murder since 1981 — seven of those officers were killed by illegal aliens. With its close proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border and being situated in the path of main drug trafficking routes for Mexican transnational organized criminal groups (cartels), the PPD and other law enforcement agencies in the Phoenix metro area have suffered numerous deaths and serious injuries to officers at the hands of criminals illegally in the United States. Some of these criminals had numerous previous deportations, but were able to re-enter the U.S. through its porous southern border.