Sunday, January 03, 2010
The decade closed out with mixed results for police officers killed in the line of duty. The good news for 2009 was a 7% drop from the previous year in law enforcement deaths, with a total of 124 reported. That figured represented the lowest number since 1959, when 108 officers were killed. According to data collected by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the decline in deaths was attributed to fewer traffic-related fatalities, which reached a peak two years ago with 83.
But the bad news about 2009 was a rise in shooting-related deaths for law enforcement. Forty-eight officers died from gunfire last year, compared to 39 in 2008. That’s a 23% jump.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
A Tale of Two Trends: Overall Fatalities Fall, Fatal Shootings on the Rise (National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Research Bulletin) (pdf)
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