153 Law Enforcement Officers Died in the Line of Duty in 2005

Washingon, D.C., 12-27-05 - A report released today indicates that, as of December 23rd, 153 law enforcement officers across the nation died in the line of duty during 2005, marking a continued downward trend in the number of officers killed over the past 30 years.

California, which lost 17 officers over the past year, had the nation's most line-of-duty fatalities, followed by Texas, with 14, and Georgia, with 10. These preliminary figures for the year were released jointly by The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) and the Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS), two nonprofit organizations that track officer deaths.

The top two causes of death in 2005 were shootings (60) and traffic related incidents (62), which included 41 officers who were killed in automobile accidents, 15 who were struck by vehicles and six who died in motorcycle accidents. Also during 2005, 21 officers died from job-related illnesses; three fell to their deaths, two drowned; two died in aircraft accidents; one died in a bomb-related incident: one was stabbed to death; and on hit by a train.

Deaths decline, but further safety measures are needed.
During the 1970's, more than 200 Officers were killed on average each year, making this the deadliest decade in law enforcement history. But the officer fatality rate has declined to an average of 162 per year during the past decade.

"The increased use of body armor, better training and, more recently, the advent of less-lethal weaponry have all played a role in bringing these numbers down," said National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Chairman Craig W. Floyd. "But the fact remains that an officer dies nearly every other day, and we need to stay focused on the measures that will protect their lives."

"Body armor doesn't just help protect officers from bullets - it also deters death and serious injuries from stabbings, motor vehicle crashes and traffic scenes where officers assisting victims are struck by other motorists," said Ronald W. McBride, a former Chief of Police and a representative of the DuPont Kevlar Survivors Club. "We join NLEOMF and COPS in urging communities to do everything possible to ensure their officers take steps to save their lives."

The NLEOMF and COPS also noted that this is the second consecutive year in which traffic-related accidents either equaled or topped gunfire as the leading cause of death. In fact, over the past 30 years, the number of officers killed in automobile accidents has increased by 40 percent, according to the NLEOMF. As a result of this troubling trend, the NLEOMF and COPS are calling for better driver training for officers, safer automobiles, and a driving public that is more attentive to officer safety when approaching accident scenes and traffic stops.

Reprinted from Michigan Concerns of Police Survivors, Vol. 8, No. 2 Winter, 2006

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