Report: 2025 Officer Line of Duty Deaths Hit Lowest Level in 80 Years
Key Highlights
- In 2025, 111 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty, the lowest number since the early 1940s.
- Fatalities due to firearms and traffic incidents decreased compared to the previous year, contributing to the overall decline.
- The report underscores the importance of evaluating training, tactics, and wellness programs to further improve officer safety.
WASHINGTON — The 2025 year‑end line‑of‑duty fatality report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) shows a significant decline in deaths among U.S. law enforcement personnel, with preliminary data indicating the lowest toll in roughly 80 years.
According to the fund’s annual compilation of federal, state, county, municipal and U.S. Territories officers who died while performing official duties, 111 line‑of‑duty deaths were recorded in 2025. That figure represents a roughly 25% decrease from the 148 deaths documented in 2024, according to a news release.
The 2025 total approaches historic lows last seen in the early 1940s, when 94 officers were killed in the line of duty, underscoring a notable downward trend in officer fatalities.
In its breakdown of causes, preliminary data highlights declines across key fatality categories. Firearm‑related deaths and traffic‑related deaths both fell compared with the previous year, contributing to the overall reduction. Despite the encouraging trend, officers shot in the line of duty showed a slight increase, an area of continuing concern for departments focused on tactical and personal safety.
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund CEO Bill Alexander emphasized that each statistic represents a life lost in service to community and country, and reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to officer safety and wellness initiatives.
"Each of the 111 fatalities we publish in this report represents a selfless sacrifice made on behalf of the community and the nation in which they serve," Alexander said in a statement. "We lament to document even a single such death, but this encouraging downward trend in fatalities likely reflects the continued adoption of proven best practices by police, sheriff, and corrections agencies, as well as a growing emphasis on the physical and psychological health of the men and women who work to keep our communities safe. These practices align directly with—and underscore the importance of—NLEOMF's Officer Safety and Wellness initiatives, which are designed to help ensure that more officers return home safely at the end of each shift."
For departments and leaders, the year’s data may offer a platform for evaluating training, tactics, equipment and wellness programs that materially affect survivability and risk mitigation in operational environments.
Some of the key takeaways from the report include: Firearms-related fatalities claimed the lives of 44 officers in 2025, which represents a decrease of 15% from the 52 officers killed by gunfire in 2024 and was the leading cause of death. There were 34 Traffic-Related Fatalities in 2025; this is a decrease of 23% compared to 2024, which had a total of 44. The Other Causes and Fatalities category contains a wide variety of health-related deaths and other line-of-duty fatalities. 33 officer deaths are listed in the "Other" category versus 52 for last year, which represents a 37% decrease.
There were 102 male officers killed in the line of duty, and 9 female officers. The average age of the fallen officers is 44, with an average of 14 years of service. On average, officers left behind two children.
The statistics released in the 2025 report are based on preliminary data compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and may not represent a final or complete list of individual officers who will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in 2026.
To view the full report, visit: https://nleomf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025-EOY-Fatality-Report-RGB_FINAL.pdf