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How Many Police Officers Are Killed Each Year

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In the last 10 years, on average, an officer per week has been killed on our nations roads .1 Most years, motor vehicle-related incidents including crashes and being struck by moving vehicles while on foot are the main cause of death for officers. 2016 was an anomaly in that motor vehicle-related deaths came second to firearms. Since 2016, homicides have been leading cause of death.

From 2011-2020, excluding COVID-19 deaths:1

  • 1,387 officer line-of-duty deaths
  • 286 officer line-of-duty deaths due to vehicle crashes
  • 114 officer line-of-duty deaths due to being struck by a vehicle

How Many Unarmed Black People Are Killed By Police Each Year

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THE recent spate of police-involved deaths highlight a grim statistic: black Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police than whites.

More than 1,000 unarmed people were killed due to police harm between 2013-2019 and one third were black, according to Mapping Police Violence.

Here is more on the grim statistic and the police-related deaths of black people.

The Number Of Us Police Officers Killed In The Line Of Duty Increased Last Year

The FBI has released its latest statistics regarding line-of-duty deaths and/or assaults on law enforcement officers in the United States. A total of 106 police officers lost their lives on duty last year, a 13% increase on 2017. 55 officers were feloniously killed while 51 died accidentally. The average age of officers killed feloniously was 37 and they had an average tenure of 10 years in law enforcement. Three were female and 52 were male.

When it comes to the circumstances behind non-accidental deaths, 23 officers were killed in the course of investigative or enforcement activities. Another 11 lost their lives in ambushes while six died in pursuits. Line-of duty deaths occurred in 28 states and Puerto Rico. Out of all states, Georgia had the highest number of police officer deaths in 2018 with five, followed by Florida and California with four each. 55 of the officers who died in 2018 were killed with firearms.

*Click below to enlarge

U.S. police officers feloniously and accidentally killed in the line of duty.

Statista

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What Is The Top Cause Of Death For Police Officers On Duty

Felonious killings were the top cause of death for law enforcement officers on duty, reaching a 25-year high in 2021, with 73 deaths. The majority of killings were committed using a firearm, which is consistent for the last 25 years of data. Five of the felonious killings in 2021 were unprovoked attacks on law enforcement officers. The rest occurred during regular police activity such as traffic stops or investigations.

Fifty-six officers were accidentally killed in 2021. Fifty-two of those deaths came from motor vehicle crashes. Accidental deaths of law enforcement officers on the job decreased sharply after 2012. A National Institute of Justice study addresses some reasons for the decline.

For example, one common cause of accidental deaths is when officers exit a vehicle on the roadway, which makes it more likely theyll be struck by other vehicles.

The study showed that agencies that increased training and required reflective gear for patrol officers had fewer accidental deaths after exiting vehicles. Additionally, better airbag technology and increased seat belt usage helped prevent deaths while driving.

How Many Police Officers Die In The Line Of Duty

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Officer deaths increased 29% in 2021. Yet the profession is still not among the deadliest.

In 2021, 129 officers died in the line of duty, according to the FBIs Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted database. Seventy-three of those officers were killed feloniously, almost entirely by firearms. However, law enforcement does not rank in the top ten most deadly professions in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics .

The FBI collects data from law enforcement agencies in the US on assaults and deaths of officers. Deaths are broken down into two categories: felonious, meaning purposefully killed, and accidental. The available data only includes deaths occurring on the job. It doesnt include work-related exposures that may lead to illness or death. COVID-19, 9/11-related illnesses, and suicides are all excluded from the data.

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Next We Looked At The Number Of Blacks Killed By Police In 2014 2019

During this period, 1,654 blacks were killed. This is an average of 275 per year. In fact, 2015 saw 305 deaths for a high and 258 was the lowest number in 2018. Of these fatalities, 286 were considered unarmed. That is an average of 47 people per year. The deadliest year was 2015 with 78. Both 2018 and 2019 had the lowest totals of 28 each year.

We then looked at the number of non-blacks, particularly whites killed by police . Here is what we discovered:

Whites accounted for 2,953 police involved deaths. An average of 492 per year. The deadliest year being 2015 with 544, the lowest being 2019 with 406. There were 388 unarmed whites killed in that time frame for an average of 65 per year. Most death occurring in 2015 with 91 deaths, and the low being 48 in 2018.

All other races accounted for 1,953 deaths of which 241 were unarmed .

Unarmed blacks killed per year: 47. Non-blacks: 105.

All of these numbers were accumulated from a searchable data base at:

Daily Gun Violence Impacting Children And Teens

Every day, 22 children and teens are shot in the United States. Among those:

  • 5 die from gun violence
  • 2 are murdered

Q. After the U.S. pull troops out of Afghanistan, will the Afghans still be able to call us to give air support if needed?

A. No. Once all U.S. troops have left the country, the Afghan government must stand on its own. President Biden said the United States will monitor terrorists threats, reorganize counterterrorism capabilities and keep substantial assets in the region to respond to threats to the United States emerging from Afghanistan.

Q. Has the Democratic Party given those that are coming to our border a vaccine?

A. No. The Democratic Party is a political party, not a medical provider.

Q. When will they bring criminal charges against President Trump for inciting a riot on Jan. 6?

A. Michael Sherwin, the departing acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, said in March that the former president was still under investigation over the January insurrection. But many Washington insiders say it is extremely unlikely Trump will be prosecuted.

Q. How much is the Terrace Hill wrought iron fence going to cost and who will be footing the bill?

Q. What is the phone number for Meals on Wheels?

A. In Waterloo, call 779-8707.

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Senior Constable Peter Morris Umbers

  • Robin Dudding was shot dead in Rotorua after he was taken hostage at Lake Rotoiti by Ross Kameta, 18, who fired shots at police. Kameta wanted to be taken to the Rotorua Police Station, but was instead driven away from the city by Traffic Officer Dudding.

    Armed police located Traffic Officer Duddings patrol vehicle near Hamurana. After disabling Kameta, they located Duddings body in the vehicle.

    Kameta was charged with the murder of Dudding and attempted murder of another police officer. He was found not guilty due to insanity and detained in a mental institution.

    For his bravery in preventing the gunman from carrying out his murderous intentions, Traffic Officer Dudding was posthumously awarded the George Medal.

  • Police Kill More Whites Than Blacks Is True And It Isnt

    How many people are killed by police each year in the U.S.?

    Men lie, women lie and they both use numbers when it favors them.

    This rebuttal is used to downplay black Americas outrage and its sad to say, the stats are unfairly true whats more concerning is that its unfairly used. Whether the stats are true or not, its insensitive to use statistics to indirectly tell a parent that the unjustifiable acts by the police

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    Traffic Poses The Biggest Threat To Officers

    Car crashes and other traffic-related incidents pose the biggest threat to police officers, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the memorial fund.

    More than 800 officers died as a result of these incidents from 2006 to 2019. Thats 43% of all line-of-duty deaths.

    The CDC says behavior-related hazards put officers at particular risk for traffic-related injuries or death on the job. These include not wearing a seat belt, speeding, being distracted while on a device while driving or experiencing tunnel vision from increased stress.

    What Is Blue Lives Matter

    The countermovement claims to support local law enforcement, but its supporters have been accused of racism

    • Blue Lives Matter is known to be a counter to the Black Lives Matter movement
    • Those who display the flag insist it is to honor the men and women in blue, as well as fallen officers
    • However, opponents of the movement say it has become a symbol of racism
    • The flag is said to have some racist connotations after being spotted alongside Confederate flags at the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, reported NPR

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    Racial Disparities Persist After Accounting For Several Factors

    We use data from the Racial and Identity Profiling Act to examine whether contextual factors in individual police encounters help us better understand these racial disparities. RIPA requires California law enforcement agencies to collect detailed data on perceived characteristics of the civilians being stopped, the context in which the stop was made, and other information on what occurred in these stops.

    With those limitations in mind, we use RIPA data because they contain granular information on perceptions of civilian identity , reason for the stop , and action taken by an officer . These interaction details are paired with a use-of-force continuum, ranging from removing the civilian from the vehicle to discharging a firearm. The RIPA use-of-force data are reported solely through actions taken by officersand not injuries sustained by civiliansdifferentiating itself from the Use of Force data in all cases except where a firearm is involved. Subsequently, we focus the analysis on incidents where an officer aims or discharges a firearm at a civilian. Using the stop characteristics as controls, we explore whether racial disparities in use of force persist when comparing otherwise similar encounters .

    Officers May Respond To Riskier Environments With Greater Force

    1 in 13 people killed by guns are killed by police

    The analysis above provides a baseline understanding of police use of force, and a breakdown of relevant factors that may contribute to it. However, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the role of situational factors from these state-level comparisons. Below, we explore additional contextual factors related to the jurisdiction where the incidents occurred. This analysis relies on the number of civilian fatalities from Fatal Encounters data and incorporates measures of crime rates, population size, and attacks on law enforcement officers into a regression framework to explore whether the application of deadly force varies with how risky the broader environment an officer may be working in isa potential justification for the use of force in the first place .

    We find some evidence that the number of civilian fatalities during law enforcement encounters is correlated with higher-risk environments for policing. Within a jurisdiction, both the number of crimes using firearms and assaults against officers are significant predictors of increased fatalities. This finding aligns with studies that show increased firearm prevalence is associated with more officers being killed .

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    Law Enforcement Officer Motor Vehicle Safety

    Motor vehicle-related incidents are a leading cause of line-of-duty deaths for law enforcement officers in the United States they are also preventable.1 From 2011-2020, 454 officers died due to motor vehicle related incidents 33% of all line-of-duty deaths 2. It is important to promote motor vehicle safety among officers so they can stay safe while working to make communities safer.

    Homicide Most Common Cause Of On

    Since 1975, a total of 284 police officers have died on the job. Of these, 101 were homicide victims, while 88 were killed in vehicle accidents often while rushing to respond to a call in poor road conditions.

    Aircraft crashes during transportation or surveillance operations in more remote regions account for 29 deaths, and often claimed many lives in a single crash. On three occasions, officers were killed during training exercises.

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    Low Confidence And A Climate Of Animosity

    In the wake of protest movements following the killings of Black Americans by police, confidence in US police dropped to record lows, according to a report released by Gallup in August 2020. The polling group reported in 2021 that some of these perceptions have slightly rebounded, but stark racial and partisan divides remain in how Americans view the police. Confidence among both Black and White adults in police remains lower than they were before the killing of Floyd.

    Whether there’s a connection between low police confidence and heightened animosity to officer killings is not clear, but Haberfeld says that coverage of anti-police sentiment has been more sustained than in previous years.

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    “There is an overall climate now that is very anti-police, which adds a different angle to what used to happen periodically to police in the past years,” she told CNN. “The anti-police climate would surge after a high-profile case, and usually after a month or so it would subside. But right now, we’re talking about over a year of high-profile, anti-police coverage.”

    Herrmann of John Jay said there isn’t an easy fix to the animosity toward police officers.

    “Police officers are tasked with rebuilding these relationships with their communities that have been fractured as a result of the Floyd protests and as a result of the over-policing, racial profiling, and high-profile killings of Black people,” Herrmann said.

    Terrence Crutcher Sept 16 2016

    Rochester Police Officer Killed, Another Wounded In ‘Ambush’ Attack

    An Oklahoma jury in May found white Tulsa police officer Betty Jo Shelby not guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the 2016 death of Terence Crutcher, 40, who was shot shortly after Shelby arrived to find Crutchers SUV stopped in the middle of the road.

    Shelby testified that she was afraid because Crutcher didnt obey her commands and appeared to reach inside his vehicle. Prosecutors told jurors that Shelby over-reacted, noting that videos from a patrol car dashboard and a police helicopter showed Crutcher had his hands in the air and did not have a weapon.

    Award: $0

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    Fbi Releases Statistics For Law Enforcement Officers Assaulted And Killed In The Line Of Duty

    According to statistics reported to the FBI, 59 police officers were killed in the line of duty from January 1, 2021, to September 30, 2021. This marks a 51 percent increase in the number of police officers killed when compared to the same period last year.

    Nationally, 60,105 law enforcement officers were assaulted while performing their duties in 2020. These assaults were reported to the FBI by 9,895 law enforcement agencies. Based on these reports, there were 4,071 more officers assaulted in 2020 than the 56,034 assaults reported in 2019.

    In an interview during Police Week events last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray reflected on the sacrifices of the Bureaus law enforcement partners, who risk their safety to protect the public. We are looking at now 59 officers or agents murdered in the line of duty this year. Thats an over 50 percent increase from last year. That basically translates to every five daysmore often than every five days in this countryan officer is murdered in the line of duty. And thats totally unacceptable, and its a tragedy and it needs attention, Wray said.

    The statistics released this week are a stark reminder of the dangerous work done by law enforcement every day, said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno. The FBI values our partnerships with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. We will continue to assist and offer resources when called upon. Nationally

    Texas

    I Think Logically 99% If Not More Of The Police Contact With The Public Is Appropriate Giuliani Says

    Rudy Giuliani in a Fox News appearance.

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    More police officers are shot and killed by blacks than police officers kill African-Americans.

    Thats former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani offering his perspective to Fox News on rising concerns that police disproportionately kill black Americans.

    The unarmed shootings which are the ones that are the troublesome ones there are only 9 of them against blacks 20 against whites in 2019. So thatll give you a sense. Meanwhile, there were 9,000 murders of blacks, 7,500 of which were black-on-black, Giuliani told Foxs Ed Henry during a recent interview.

    Breaking news:Atlanta officer charged with murder in Rayshard Brooks shooting

    The comments come as President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order calling on police departments to adopt stricter use-of-force standards and create a database to track officer misconduct amid an eruption of social unrest in America over racial inequality and the treatment of blacks by law enforcement after a number of recent incidents.

    Protests across the globe have been ignited by the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man who perished in police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis as a white police officer drove his knee into his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

    Giuliani, however, described the reaction to the incidences and calls to defund the police as created and almost hysterical.

    The Washington Post writes:

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