Trending Topics

LEO fatalities down 18 percent from 2018

The majority of officers died from firearms- and traffic-related incidents

Police1 Staff

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The number of law enforcement officers nationwide who died in the line of duty in 2019 decreased 18% over the previous year, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) reports.

According to NLEOMF’s 2019 Law Enforcement Officers Fatalities Report, 128 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty this year, down from 157 line of duty deaths in 2018.

Forty-nine officers died from firearms-related incidents. NLEOMF reports 27 of those officers were shot and killed with a handgun; eight officers were killed responding to domestic or public disturbance calls; seven deaths occurred while officers were attempting to place an individual under arrest; and another seven were killed while conducting investigative activities.

Forty-three officers died as a result of traffic incidents, NLEOMF reports. Of those, 17 officers were struck while outside of their vehicles and 13 officers were killed in crashes involving another vehicle or a fixed object.

According to a NLEOMF press release, the number of officer deaths from other causes decreased 36% over the number of deaths from other causes in 2018. Thirty-six officers died of causes other than firearms- or traffic-related incidents and 19 officers died from job-related illnesses like heart attacks or strokes. Another 12 died due to cancers related to the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack.

NLEOMF reports that out of the 128 fallen officers in 2019, 119 were male and nine were female. The average length of service was 14 years.

“While we’re certainly pleased to see a decline in the number of officer line-of-duty-deaths this year, the reality is that more than a hundred officers lost their lives,” said National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund CEO Marcia Ferranto. “That means we’ve still got a great deal of work to do. We’ve been tracking this information for more than 20 years, and the loss of even one life is difficult, particularly when these brave men and women wake up every day to keep the rest of us safe.”

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU