According to preliminary data compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 53 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty during the first half of 2012. This is a 44% decrease from the 94 fatalities that occurred in 2011 during the same time period.
Traffic-related fatalities were once again the leading cause of officer fatalities, with 21 officers killed in the first half of 2012. Seventeen officers were killed in automobile crashes, three were struck and killed, and one officer was killed in a motorcycle crash. However, traffic-related fatalities decreased by 36% from 33 officers killed during the first six months of 2011.
“After two years of rising numbers of peace officer fatalities, the law enforcement community has joined together to make officer safety the utmost priority,” said Memorial Fund Chairman & CEO Craig W. Floyd. “It is good to see those efforts paying off and the number of peace officer fatalities decreasing thus far in 2012.”
Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas were the deadliest states in the nation thus far in 2012 with three fatalities each. Eight states (Alabama, Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, and Utah) each lost two officers during the same period.
More information is available in the full 2012 Preliminary Mid-year Report at www.LawMemorial.org/ResearchBulletin.
