In addition to being one (if not, the) noblest of professions, working as an officer of the peace carries with it inherent risks. Sadly in 2014, 51 American law enforcement officers lost their lives feloniously in the line of duty.
In addition to publishing the prior year’s crime data, the Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) organizes and annually releases data pertaining to instances when law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty. Today the FBI released their detailed report about these circumstances titled Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2014.
Sections contained within the report include Victim Profile, Circumstances, Assignments, Weapons, Body Armor, Times of Incidents, and Profile of Assailants. Below are some of more interesting points found in the report.
- Last year’s total of 51 is almost double 2013’s total of 27 officers killed in the line of duty.
- The 51 deaths occurred in 24 states and Puerto Rico. Of these 25 states/territories, nine suffered the loss of multiple officers. The state with the highest total in 2014 was Texas, where 5 officers were feloniously killed on duty; followed by California, Florida, Georgia, New York, and Puerto Rico, which each suffered the loss of 4 officers; Arizona and Indiana, which both lost 3 officers; and Utah, which lost 2.
- In 2014, the most likely way for an officer to lose his life (all officers killed in the line of duty in 2014 were male) on duty was by responding to a disturbance call between 12PM – midnight, where the assailant responded with the use of a firearm.
- “30 on-duty officers who died in 2014 were assisted at the times of the attacks,” while 16 were unassisted and there was no data for the remaining 5.
- The report cites that “39 of the officers feloniously killed were wearing body armor at the time of the incidents.” Of these 39 officers, 35 were killed with firearms and the cause of death was because of the following wounds: head wounds (22), torso wounds (9), and neck wounds (3) [with one death where the wounds were not reported].
Although not pertaining to feloniously killed officers, the report also contains data on Officers Accidentally Killed, Officers Assaulted, and Federal Officers Killed and Assaulted.
For more resources on law enforcement operations, Fusion Centers or Gangs, visit the Homeland Security Digital Library (some resources may require HSDL login).
Article formerly posted at https://www.hsdl.org/blog/newpost/view/law-enforcement-deaths-in-the-line-of-duty-2014