Law Enforcement Line
of Duty Deaths
There are casualties in war.
The war on crime is no different than any other war that America has
been engaged in except for the fact that the war on crime (and the American
Civil War) has taken place on our own soil and not in some far-flung country or
across the borders. To help place things
in proper perspective this ongoing war on crime has taken the lives of 20,668
local, county, state, and federal law enforcement officers since the first
recorded officer death in 1791 (nleomf.org and odmp.org). While hundreds of thousands of American
soldiers, sailors, marines, and coast guard lives were lost in World Wars I and
II and the number of police officer lives lost in the line of duty pale in
comparison, this does not diminish the significance of the number or the importance
of officers who have lost their lives while on duty. But, if one wants to look at body counts then
the number of officer lives lost over the past 225 years is still higher than
the combined American lives lost in the Mexican-American War, Gulf War, and in
the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars (prospect.org and va.gov).
There were 129 police officers who died in the line of duty
in 2015. This is quite a bit higher than
the average (mean) of 92 lives lost per year since 1791 but considerably lower
than the average (mean) 162 officer lives lost per year over the 16 year period
from 2000 to 2015.
Perhaps when people think of officers who die in the line of
duty they think of officers who are killed by gunfire. Many officers lose their lives on duty due to
gunfire. In fact, gunfire is the leading
cause of death among police officers, but it is not the only cause. Only 39 of the 129 officers who died while on
duty in 2015 were killed by intentional gunfire. Table 1 below is a partial accounting of Line
of Duty (LOD) deaths for 2015 and 2000 through 2015.
 |
Table 1.
Line of Duty Deaths for 2015 and 2000 – 2015
 |
Cause
|
Gunfire
|
Auto
Accident
|
Heart
Attack
|
Assault
|
9/11
Illness*
|
Accidental
Gunfire
|
Training
|
Vehicle
Pursuit
|
Vehicle
Assault
|
Struck
by Vehicle
|
2015
|
39
|
28
|
18
|
3
|
6
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
7
|
5
|
2000-2015
|
788
|
525
|
187
|
31
|
87
|
50
|
11
|
77
|
184
|
121
|
*More police officers have died from the after effects of
9/11 since the terrorist attacks than died in the collapse of the World Trade Center.
The above table is not all-inclusive. Other deaths can be attributed to stabbing,
bombs and other explosives, electrocution, drowning, illness contracted in the
performance of duties, boating and aircraft accidents, exposure to toxins,
bicycle accidents, animal attacks, adverse weather, fire, motorcycle accidents,
heat exhaustion, other accidents, or being struck by a train (6 during the 16
year period).
A LOD death profile begins to emerge as we examine some of
the characteristics of these officers.
For example, while women make up 13-14% of the sworn law enforcement
officer force (http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1000&issue_id=92006),
they comprise 5.8% of the officers who died on duty. Their average (mean) age is 40 had have
served an average of 12.1 years (all calculations based on numbers from
odmp.org). Their age and years of
service should dispel any perception that officers who die are young and
inexperienced or who were ready to retire.
There appears to be little correlation between the time of
year and LOD deaths as is shown in Table 2.
 |
Table 2.
Line of Duty Deaths by Month
 |
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
June
|
July
|
Aug
|
Sept
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
|
2015
|
14
|
2
|
16
|
6
|
17
|
9
|
5
|
15
|
14
|
7
|
11
|
13
|
2014
|
15
|
4
|
16
|
11
|
18
|
6
|
7
|
7
|
12
|
13
|
12
|
12
|
2013
|
7
|
12
|
11
|
10
|
15
|
7
|
7
|
9
|
12
|
8
|
7
|
14
|
2012
|
17
|
4
|
7
|
8
|
6
|
10
|
16
|
17
|
14
|
10
|
10
|
14
|
2011
|
18
|
14
|
26
|
11
|
16
|
16
|
16
|
16
|
10
|
9
|
7
|
21
|
2010
|
22
|
15
|
14
|
10
|
16
|
20
|
15
|
10
|
13
|
15
|
12
|
15
|
2009
|
13
|
8
|
15
|
15
|
13
|
12
|
10
|
9
|
10
|
14
|
12
|
9
|
2008
|
16
|
13
|
7
|
5
|
10
|
14
|
8
|
21
|
21
|
18
|
16
|
12
|
2007
|
14
|
14
|
19
|
22
|
25
|
20
|
16
|
16
|
13
|
16
|
14
|
15
|
2006
|
15
|
18
|
12
|
10
|
14
|
10
|
7
|
16
|
18
|
15
|
13
|
13
|
2005
|
12
|
9
|
15
|
13
|
12
|
11
|
16
|
14
|
21
|
16
|
15
|
12
|
2004
|
11
|
13
|
11
|
17
|
18
|
14
|
22
|
14
|
16
|
13
|
8
|
9
|
2003
|
11
|
8
|
8
|
17
|
16
|
16
|
16
|
13
|
7
|
8
|
18
|
14
|
2002
|
19
|
8
|
11
|
8
|
13
|
13
|
12
|
17
|
15
|
10
|
19
|
15
|
2001
|
11
|
17
|
19
|
7
|
11
|
16
|
12
|
16
|
19*
|
16
|
13
|
13
|
2000
|
16
|
12
|
13
|
7
|
13
|
17
|
20
|
13
|
16
|
16
|
8
|
13
|
231
|
171
|
220
|
177
|
233
|
211
|
205
|
223
|
231
|
204
|
195
|
214
|
*In order to avoid skewing the data the LOD deaths that
happened as a result of the 9/11 attacks are not included on this table. This was done after a great deal of
soul-searching, but was finally excluded from this table as 9/11 hopefully is
an anomaly. Since 9/11 related illnesses
have been “the gift that keeps on giving”, those numbers are included in this
table.
Figures 1 and 2 below show the distribution of deaths by
month for the years 2000 – 2015.
Figure 1.
 |
|
 |
Figure 2.
Percentage of Officer Deaths by Month 2000 - 2015
There are at least three ways to look at data location to
determine where most police officers die in the line of duty. We can examine raw numbers, ratios of officer
deaths to a given population (1: X), or rates per 100,000. Looking at raw data it is clear that more
officers die in certain states than others.
The top states in officer deaths are New York (259 – excludes 9/11),
Texas (227) California (188), Florida (133), and Georgia (110) (odmp.org). Several states such as Wyoming, South Dakota,
Vermont, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire are among states that
had fewer than 6 LOD deaths.
However, before looking at individual states it may be
helpful to look at bigger bites of the country or regions as designated by the
United States Census Bureau. Table 3
below shows the ratios of LOD deaths in the population of the region. All figures are based on the Census Bureau’s
2013 population estimates for the designated regions.
 |
Table 3.
Ratios of Officer Deaths to Regional Population
 |
Region
|
Ratio
|
New England
|
1: 281,131
|
Mid-Atlantic
|
1: 111,990
|
South Atlantic
|
1: 119,736
|
East South Central
|
1: 84,307
|
West South Central
|
1: 99,694
|
East North Central
|
1: 180,861
|
West North Central
|
1: 161,905
|
Mountain
|
1: 127,828
|
Pacific
|
1: 195,244
|
Territories
|
1: 55,418
|
Data are calculated and based upon: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_population.
 |
New England States
include Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and
Vermont. Mid-Atlantic States are New York, Pennsylvania, and New
Jersey. South Atlantic States include Florida, Georgia, North Carolina,
Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina, West Virginia, Delaware, and Washington,
D.C. East South Central States are Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, and
Mississippi. West South Central States
include Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. East North Central States are Illinois, Ohio,
Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin. West North Central States include
Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North
Dakota. The Mountain States are Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New
Mexico, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Pacific States are California,
Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska.
And the United States Territories
include Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the
Northern Mariana Islands.
The commonly accepted method of looking at crime rates is to
examine the number of crimes per one-hundred thousand population. As we use this method of examining LOD deaths
we see a different picture emerging.
Rates per one-hundred thousand is calculated by dividing the total
population by 100,000 and then dividing the number of occurrences (in this case
the LOD deaths) by the previous product.
For example, Maine has a population of 1,328,302.
To obtain the number of officer deaths per 100,000 in Maine we apply the
following formula.
1,328,302 / 100,000 =
13.28302; 4 (officer deaths) / 13.28302
= 0.301204819.
Thus the police officer death rate for Maine is 0.3012 per
100,000.
Using this methodology allows us to compare large
populations into the hundreds of thousands and millions to populations of less
than 100,000. Table 4 shows the number
of officer deaths per 100,000 by region of the United States.
 |
Table 4.
Officer Deaths per 100,000 Population by Region
 |
Region
|
Officer Deaths per 100,000 Population
|
New England
|
0.3557
|
Mid-Atlantic
|
0.8929
|
South Atlantic
|
0.8352
|
East South Central
|
1.1861
|
West South Central
|
1.0031
|
East North Central
|
0.5529
|
West North Central
|
0.6176
|
Mountain
|
0.7823
|
Pacific
|
0.5123
|
Territories
|
0.5542
|
 |
Note that the average or mean for the ten regions is 0.7292383,
which places the Mountain states close to the average number of LOD deaths and
the U.S. Territories somewhere below the mean score. However, this number is somewhat skewed since
the Northern Mariana Islands had no Line of Duty deaths. In reality, the Territories had some of the
highest reported Line of Duty deaths as is shown in Table 5.
Table 5.
State and Territory Rates of Line of Duty Deaths
State or Territory
|
State or Territory
|
|||
Northern Mariana Islands
|
0
|
South Dakota
|
0.71
|
|
Connecticut
|
0.25
|
Virginia
|
0.73
|
|
North Dakota
|
0.28
|
Indiana
|
0.76
|
|
Maine
|
0.30
|
Hawaii
|
0.78
|
|
New Hampshire
|
0.30
|
North Carolina
|
0.81
|
|
Iowa
|
0.32
|
Texas
|
0.86
|
|
Nebraska
|
0.37
|
Kentucky
|
0.86
|
|
Rhode Island
|
0.38
|
Oklahoma
|
0.93
|
|
Minnesota
|
0.39
|
Maryland
|
0.94
|
|
Wisconsin
|
0.42
|
Arizona
|
0.97
|
|
Massachusetts
|
0.42
|
Missouri
|
1.06
|
|
West Virginia
|
0.43
|
Arkansas
|
1.08
|
|
Delaware
|
0.43
|
Montana
|
1.08
|
|
Oregon
|
0.43
|
Tennessee
|
1.09
|
|
Vermont
|
0.48
|
Georgia
|
1.10
|
|
California
|
0.49
|
South Carolina
|
1.19
|
|
Idaho
|
0.50
|
Washington, D.C.
|
1.24
|
|
New Jersey
|
0.51
|
New Mexico
|
1.24
|
|
Pennsylvania
|
0.51
|
Guam
|
1.26
|
|
Ohio
|
0.51
|
New York
|
1.32
|
|
Wyoming
|
0.51
|
Alabama
|
1.34
|
|
Washington
|
0.52
|
Alaska
|
1.50
|
|
Illinois
|
0.54
|
Mississippi
|
1.60
|
|
Michigan
|
0.56
|
American Samoa
|
1.79
|
|
Nevada
|
0.57
|
Puerto Rico
|
1.80
|
|
Colorado
|
0.61
|
Louisiana
|
1.84
|
|
Kansas
|
0.66
|
U.S. Virgin Islands
|
3.77
|
|
Florida
|
0.68
|
|||
Utah
|
0.69
|
Using 0.5 and 1.0 as arbitrary cut-off points with anything
below 0.5 LOD deaths per 100,000 population as a safer place for an officer to
work and anything above 1.0 LOD deaths per 100,000 as being more hazardous
states or territories to work, New York and Georgia remain in the more
hazardous places to be employed as a police officer. However, California falls into the safer
places to work and Texas and Florida are somewhere in the middle. Note also that three of the five most
hazardous places to work are in the United States Territories. Also, Alaska, which had only 11 LOD deaths in
16 years is the sixth most hazardous state or territory for police officers.
Note that these statistics are based solely upon the total
number of LOD deaths, not just deaths due to gunfire from an assailant.
There is a dark side to officer deaths and it tends to be
hidden from public view. Police suicide
rates are not readily available. The
most accessible suicide data show 141 police suicides in 2008, 143 police
suicides in 2009, and 126 police suicides in 2012 (http://www.badgeoflife.com/
suicides.php). Some researchers believe these numbers are grossly
underreported and suggest that there are upwards of 300 police suicides
annually (see for example, Aurizio, 1997; Gold, 1999; Loh, 1994). Other researchers believe that the suicide
rate among retired police officers is at least double that of active duty
officers. Those suicides tend to take
place within the first two years of retirement.
So, how do police suicide rates compare to other
populations? The suicide rate for the
general public in 2009 was 11 per 100,000 while the verified suicide rate for
police officers in that same year was 17 per 100,000. Army personnel suicide rate in 2009 was 22
per 100,000. If in fact the true suicide
rate for police officers is 300 per year then the suicide rate for officers
approximates that of the military suicide rate.
Officers most at risk for suicide are single (63%) males
(91%) between the ages of 40 to 44 with 15 to 19 years of service on the job (http://www.policesuicidestudy.com
/id16.html).
The reasons for not fully reporting the actual number of
police suicides are varied. While police
speak of the Thin Blue Line as a way
of being the barrier between criminals and potential innocent victims, some researchers
suggest that the Thin Blue Line is
also there in the cases of police suicide to protect the family of deceased
officers and the reputation of the deceased officers’ agencies.
Summary and
Conclusion
While 2015 was a bad year with 129 LOD deaths, it was far
from the worst year in the immediate past.
For example, in 2007 we saw 204 LOD deaths. The officer deaths were well below the
average (mean) number of LOD deaths for the years 2000 through 2015 at 162
deaths. The states in New England are probably
the safest states for police officers while New York, Alaska, and the U.S.
Territories are the most hazardous states.
Policing is hazardous work, not just because of the potential of being
killed by gunfire but also by automobile accidents, vehicular assaults, vehicle
pursuits, heart attacks and being struck by vehicles (most likely while out
their patrol cars either issuing traffic citations or investigating traffic
accidents).
In the 1980s a popular television police series Hill Street Blues began most of its
shows with Sergeant Phil Esterhaus played by Michael Conrad (1925 – 1983) doing
a police briefing. Police briefings
typically take place at the beginning of a shift and is conducted by a person
holding rank such as sergeant or lieutenant.
Its purpose is to inform officers coming on duty of incidents that have
transpired over the previous few days and to alert officers to stolen vehicles,
wanted suspects, missing persons, and so forth.
At the end of each briefing Sgt. Esterhaus would tell the officers on
his shift, “Hey, let’s be careful out there!”
There is more than one way to die on duty as a police
officer. Gunfire is not the only thing
that will kill an officer. Some of those
ways are unavoidable but others could be eliminated or at least reduced by
mandatory use of body armor and seatbelts.
In that regards, everyone could reduce their risks of death or injury by
the use of seatbelts and being “careful out there”.
