Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Police deaths jump in 2011; guns are the leading cause

Preliminary estimates from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) tragically indicate that the number of police officers killed so far in 2011 exceeds the total for the same period last year by 13 percent and that the number of police officers killed by gunfire was the leading cause of death.
According to preliminary data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 173 officers have been killed during 2011 — up 13 percent from 153 line-of-duty deaths in 2010.

For the first time in 14 years, more officers died from firearms-related incidents than traffic-related incidents. Sixty-eight officers were shot and killed in 2011, up 15 percent from 2010 when 59 officers died from gunfire. The number of officers killed by firearms has now risen during each of the past three years.
The number of gun-related fatalities in 2011 substantially exceeds the average from the 2000s and is slightly higher than the average for the 1990s. Gun-related fatalities among law-enforcement officers are down though from the very high levels recorded in the 1980s and 1970s.

The statistics are a grim reminder that a society awash in guns poses deadly risks even to those who are armed, well-trained, and often wearing protective vests.