Library Index

Firearms and Crime - Police Deaths And Injuries

officers killed table enforcement

Killings of law enforcement officers have declined dramatically since the 1970s, according to a report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) (Homicide Trends in the United States, January 10, 2003). The decline is credited

TABLE 5.3

Law enforcement officers feloniously killed, by type of weapon and region, 1993–2002
Region Total Total firearms Handgun Rifle Shotgun Knife or cutting instrument Bomb Personal weapons Other
Note: The 72 deaths that resulted from the events of September 11, 2001, are not included in this table.
SOURCE: "Table 29. Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed; Region by Type of Weapon, 1993–2002," in Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2003, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/killed/02leoka.pdf (accessed October 9, 2004)
Total 636 591 443 112 36 8 9 3 25
Northeast 63 58 48 7 3 2 0 0 3
Midwest 116 106 80 20 6 2 0 0 8
South 278 255 187 48 20 2 9 1 11
West 130 124 85 32 7 2 0 2 2
U.S. territories 49 48 43 5 0 0 0 0 1

TABLE 5.4

Law enforcement officers feloniously killed, by circumstance at scene of incident, 1993–2002
Circumstance Total 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Note: The 72 deaths that resulted from the events of September 11, 2001, are not included in this table.
SOURCE: "Table 18. Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed; Circumstance at Scene of Incident, 1993–2002," in Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2003, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/killed/02leoka.pdf (accessed October 9, 2004)
Total 636 70 80 74 61 71 61 42 51 70 56
Disturbance calls 98 10 8 8 4 14 16 7 8 14 9
Bar fights, person with firearm, etc. 41 5 4 2 1 3 7 6 4 5 4
Family quarrels 57 5 4 6 3 11 9 1 4 9 5
Arrest situations 205 28 34 21 26 22 16 12 12 24 10
Burglaries in progress/pursuing burglary suspects 23 1 4 4 3 5 0 0 3 3 0
Robberies in progress/pursuing robbery suspects 73 9 18 7 12 11 3 4 1 4 4
Drug-related matters 38 3 4 4 3 1 7 2 3 8 3
Attempting other arrests 71 15 8 6 8 5 6 6 5 9 3
Civil disorders (mass disobedience, riot, etc.) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Handling, transporting, custody of prisoners 20 1 1 4 0 4 4 2 2 2 0
Investigating suspicious persons/circumstances 105 15 15 17 13 10 6 7 6 8 8
Ambush situations 96 5 8 14 6 12 10 6 10 10 15
Entrapment/premeditation 34 3 1 6 2 5 4 4 2 3 4
Unprovoked attacks 62 2 7 8 4 7 6 2 8 7 11
Mentally deranged assailants 15 1 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 4
Traffic pursuits/stops 97 10 10 9 11 8 9 8 13 9 10

to the widespread availability since 1975 of lightweight body armor. The development of this armor was spurred by the dramatic rise in officer homicides between 1966 and 1971, from 57 per year to 129. Between 1993 and 2002, 636 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty, not including accidental deaths. (See Table 5.3.) Firearms, especially handguns, were involved in 92% (591) of the killings. The FBI report Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002 (2003) also shows that during that ten-year period, forty-six officers were killed with their own weapons. The BJS reports that in about half of the killings, the killer had previously been convicted of a crime, which might have made him or her ineligible to legally purchase a handgun under the provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.

Table 5.4 and Table 5.5 detail the circumstances under which police officers were killed over a ten-year period. In the case of the 636 officers who were killed feloniously (a crime), the greatest number of killings took place in arrest situations. In the case of the 681 officers who were killed accidentally, an automobile accident was most often involved. Table 5.6 shows the number of assaults on federal officers over a five-year period. In 2002 there were 374 assaults against federal officers, with one resulting in death.

Officers Assaulted

In 2002 more than 58,000 law enforcement officers were assaulted. (See Table 5.7.) A large majority (80%) were attacked with personal weapons such as fists and

TABLE 5.5

Law enforcement officers accidentally killed, by region, geographic division, and state, 1993–2002
Area Total 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Total 681 59 62 59 52 63 82 65 84 78 77
Northeast 63 3 5 8 7 8 3 6 13 5 5
New England 20 0 1 5 1 2 1 2 6 2 0
Connecticut 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
Maine 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Massachusetts 11 0 0 4 0 1 0 1 4 1 0
New Hampshire 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rhode Island 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Vermont 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Middle Atlantic 43 3 4 3 6 6 2 4 7 3 5
New Jersey 11 2 0 1 1 2 0 2 1 1 1
New York 20 1 3 1 3 2 2 1 4 0 3
Pennsylvania 12 0 1 1 2 2 0 1 2 2 1
Midwest 124 16 14 11 6 14 9 11 20 13 10
East North Central 81 9 12 7 3 10 8 5 15 8 4
Illinois 15 3 1 1 0 5 0 0 3 0 2
Indiana 19 1 2 0 1 2 3 3 3 3 1
Michigan 17 1 4 3 1 1 0 2 4 1 0
Ohio 18 0 4 3 1 1 2 0 2 4 1
Wisconsin 12 4 1 0 0 1 3 0 3 0 0
West North Central 43 7 2 4 3 4 1 6 5 5 6
Iowa 4 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Kansas 7 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
Minnesota 7 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 2
Missouri 21 2 2 1 1 3 1 2 0 5 4
Nebraska 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0
North Dakota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
South Dakota 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
South 325 26 30 31 23 23 41 36 35 40 40
South Atlantic 152 14 17 14 12 6 18 18 16 16 21
Delaware 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0
District of Columbia 5 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Florida 42 5 3 6 0 4 6 7 2 7 2
Georgia 23 3 5 0 3 1 3 2 4 0 2
Maryland 16 1 2 1 1 0 3 0 5 0 3
North Carolina 29 3 2 3 1 1 2 3 2 6 6
South Carolina 17 1 2 1 2 0 1 3 2 0 5
Virginia 12 1 1 2 1 0 2 2 0 1 2
West Virginia 5 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0
East South Central 61 4 3 6 5 5 5 8 9 9 7
Alabama 16 2 0 4 2 1 1 2 0 2 2
Kentucky 6 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 2
Mississippi 13 2 2 1 0 1 1 1 2 2 1
Tennessee 26 0 1 1 2 2 2 5 6 5 2
West South Central 112 8 10 11 6 12 18 10 10 15 12
Arkansas 15 1 0 1 0 3 7 0 1 1 1
Louisiana 27 1 2 2 4 2 4 6 4 1 1
Oklahoma 11 0 0 2 0 1 3 1 2 1 1
Texas 59 6 8 6 2 6 4 3 3 12 9
West 149 11 13 9 12 16 23 11 15 19 20
Mountain 55 4 6 3 2 5 9 3 5 9 9
Arizona 18 2 2 1 0 0 5 2 2 1 3
Colorado 8 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 2 1
Idaho 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Montana 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Nevada 7 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 1 1
New Mexico 7 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 2
Utah 9 0 2 1 0 1 1 0 2 1 1
Wyoming 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Pacific 94 7 7 6 10 11 14 8 10 10 11
Alaska 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
California 65 4 5 4 9 7 12 4 9 5 6
Hawaii 5 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
Oregon 12 2 0 0 1 3 0 1 1 2 2
Washington 7 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 1

feet. A lesser number were attacked with weapons other than guns or knives (14%), with firearms (3%), or with knives (2%). Roughly three in ten of the incidents in which officers were assaulted with firearms involved disturbance calls. More than one-fourth (26.6%) of all ambush assaults (attacks made with no warning) on officers involved firearms. About 22% of assaults that occurred during robberies in progress or while pursuing robbery suspects involved firearms.

User Comments