Line-of-duty law enforcement deaths in the U.S. dropped by 61% last year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
This decrease was “driven almost entirely by substantial reductions in COVID-19 related deaths,” said the organization. It also said 2021 was the “deadliest year on record” for law enforcement.
During the week of Jan. 11, 2021 there were more than 23,000 weekly COVID-19 deaths in the nation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By the week of Jan. 11, 2022 that number had gone down to around 13,000 and the most recent CDC data shows the number is now down to 2,731.
In 2021, 405 officers died from line-of-duty related COVID-19, said the NLEOMF. Last year that number came down to 70, an 83% decrease. Overall, 226 federal, state, county, municipal, military, tribal, and campus officers have died in the line of duty in 2022 compared to 586 in 2021, per organization data.
Most (204) were male officers and 22 female officers perished. On average, the fallen officers were 44 years old, served for 15 years and left behind two children. Texas had the highest number of line-of-duty officer deaths in the nation at 33 last year, followed by New York with 12, California and Georgia with 11 each, and Tennessee with 10.
“While overall line-of-duty deaths are trending down, the continuing trend of greater-than-average firearms-related deaths continues to be a serious concern,” said National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund CEO Marcia Ferranto. “Using and reporting on this data allows us to highlight the continuing cost of maintaining our democracy, regrettably measured in the lives of the many law enforcement professionals who sacrifice everything fulfilling their promise to serve and protect.”
NLEOMF found that around 64 officers died due to firearms-related fatalities in both 2021 and 2022.
“Both years represent a 21% increase in firearms-related deaths when compared to the average of 53 firearms-related fatalities from 2010-2020,” said the organization.
During 2022, the firearms-related fatalities included: 11 ambushes, nine domestic disturbance calls, eight suspicious persons investigations, six attempted arrests, six traffic enforcement stops, five disturbance call investigations, four tactical encounters, four mistaken identity/training accidents, three robbery/burglary in-progress calls, three civil papers service incidents, two felony warrant service incidents, two “other circumstances” fatalities and one handle/transport of a prisoner.
At the end of this month, the NLEOMF is expected to host a Law Enforcement Firearms Survival Summit at the National Law Enforcement Museum. Those interested can attend in-person or virtually for free.
“The summit will largely focus on the number of firearms-fatalities being observed across all law enforcement agencies in the United States and its territories, and how the profession might respond to reduce such deaths in the future,” said the NLEOMF.
In addition to firearms-related deaths, police officers in the U.S. also died due to traffic related incidents last year, though these incidents decreased by 3% compared to 2021 from 58 to 56. However, there were 40 fatal crashes in 2022 (automobile/motorcycle), representing a 29% increase compared to 2021.
“Struck-by fatalities, defined as an officer struck outside of their patrol vehicle, dropped 41% from 27 in 2021 to 16 in 2022,” NLEOMF data showed.
Of the law enforcement traffic deaths last year, 30 were automobile crashes involving a collision with another vehicle or fixed object, five were single-vehicle crashes and five were officers killed in motorcycle crashes.
Other causes of law enforcement line-of-duty deaths included 27 fatal medical events, six aircraft crashes, one falling object, one fatal fall and one fire incident.
“This category includes long-term illnesses related to the September 11th terror attacks, and acute medical events brought on by extreme and/or stressful events experienced on-duty,” said the NLEOMF of the “other” category.
“The statistics released in the annual report are based on preliminary data compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and may not represent a final or complete list of individual officers who will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in 2023,” said the organization.
Currently, there are 23,229 names of officers killed in the line of duty inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C., dating back to the first known death in 1786. This spring, the NLEOMF expects to add at least 410 names to the memorial.
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