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FBI
Law Enforcement
Officers Killed in the Line of Duty 2015
Washington, D.C.
May 16, 2016
Preliminary statistics released today by the FBI show that 41 law
enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty in
2015. This is a decrease of almost 20 percent when compared with the 51
officers killed in 2014. By region, 19 officers died as a result of
criminal acts that occurred in the South, nine officers in the West,
five officers in the Midwest, four in the Northeast, and four in Puerto
Rico.
By circumstance, eight officers were investigating suspicious
persons/circumstances; seven were engaged in tactical situations; six
officers were conducting traffic pursuits/stops; four were killed as a
result of ambushes (entrapment/premeditation); three officers were
killed as a result of unprovoked attacks; three died from injuries
inflicted while answering disturbance calls (all three being domestic
disturbance calls); three officers were killed while answering robbery
in progress calls or pursuing robbery suspects; two were handling,
transporting, or maintaining custody of prisoners; two officers were
handling persons with mental illness; one sustained fatal injuries
while performing an investigative activity; one was answering a
burglary in progress call or pursuing a burglary suspect; and one
officer was killed while attempting other arrest.
Offenders used firearms in 38 of the 41 felonious deaths. These
included 29 incidents with handguns, seven incidents with rifles, one
incident with a shotgun, and one incident in which the firearm type was
not reported. Three victim officers were killed with vehicles used as
weapons.
Thirty of the 41 killed officers were confirmed to be wearing body
armor at the times of the incidents. Six of the 41 slain officers fired
their own weapons, and six officers attempted to fire their service
weapons. Three victim officers had their weapons stolen; three officers
were killed with their own weapons.
Forty-one victim officers died from injuries sustained in 38 separate
incidents. Thirty-six of those incidents have been cleared by arrest or
exceptional means.
An additional 45 officers were killed in 2015 in line-of-duty
accidents, which include officer deaths that are found not to be
willful and intentional. This total is the same number of officers who
were accidentally killed in 2014. By region, 29 officers died due to
accidents in the South, six in the Midwest, five in the Northeast, and
five in the West.
Twenty-nine of the officers died as a result of automobile accidents,
seven were struck by vehicles, and four were fatally injured due to
motorcycle accidents. Two of the 45 officers were killed from
accidental shootings, one from an aircraft accident, one due to a fall,
and one from an all-terrain vehicle accident.
Of the 29 officers who died due to automobile accidents, 18 officers
were wearing seatbelts. Eight officers were not wearing seatbelts (four
of whom were ejected from the vehicles), and seatbelt use was not
reported for three of the officers who were killed due to automobile
accidents.
Final statistics and complete details will be available in the Uniform
Crime Reporting Program’s publication, Law Enforcement Officers Killed
and Assaulted, 2015, which will be published on the FBI’s Internet site
in the fall.
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