Texas leads the nation in the amount of officers killed in the line of duty, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF).
The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit tracks officers killed in the line of duty. They record both officers feloniously killed and accidentally killed. NLEOMF said 32 officers were feloniously killed so far this year, with 13 from Texas.
The Defenders pulled the records for feloniously killed in the line of duty from both the NLEOMF and the FBI.
The 32 officers killed in the first half of 2016 is a 78 percent spike compared this time last year, according to the NLEOMF. The amount of officers killed in the line of duty by ambush is up 300 percent over this time in 2015.
“I’m very alarmed at the 78 percent spike in law enforcement fatalities due to firearms thus far in 2016. Thirty-Two of the 67 peace officer fatalities this year are officers who have been killed in firearms-related incidents, with 14 of those being ambush-killings where the officers were targeted because of the job they perform and the uniform they wear,” said Steve Groeninger, Sr., Director of Communications & Marketing for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Statistically, the amount of overall officer deaths are behind last year’s totals.
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR), the deadliest year for police officers from 2005 to 2014 was 2011, when 72 officers were feloniously killed.
NLEOMF data states 52 officers were feloniously killed in 2015, with 12 of those officers from Texas. The FBI has not released their UCR for 2015.
“We must partner together at all levels nationwide in support of safer communities,” said Groeninger.
Traffic fatalities lead most years for deaths in the line of duty. So far, 2016 is the first time in three years in which felonious acts outnumber traffic deaths.
Go here for a FBI breakdown of officer killed in the line of duty in 2014.
Go here for the mid-year law enforcement officer fatalities report from NLEOMF.
Officers killed stats from FBI by kvuenews on Scribd
