As the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund prepares to release our preliminary 2009 law enforcement fatality report next week, two clear headlines are emerging:
Compared with 2008, the total number of line-of-duty deaths is down about 5% this year – to the lowest number in five decades!
However, the number of officers shot and killed is up in 2009, driven by an alarming rise in incidents in which multiple officers were targeted.
Fewer officers lost overall in 2009 is certainly encouraging. Our upcoming Research Bulletin will detail the areas where improvements have been made in saving officers’ lives.
The report will provide the type of detailed data which has become a signature service the Memorial Fund provides to the law enforcement community and the public at large.
But the encouraging news on officer safety is offset by a sharp increase in ambush and rampage-style assaults on our officers. In five communities this year – Oakland, Pittsburgh, Okaloosa County (FL), Seminole County (OK) and Lakewood (WA) – more than one officer was gunned down by the same offender.
These and other brutal attacks on law enforcement have taken a huge toll on the departments in which these officers served and the communities they protected.
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