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 Bureau’s 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. That’s an over 50 percent increase from last year. That basically translates to every five days—more often than every five days in this country—an officer is murdered in the line of duty. And that’s totally unacceptable, and it’s a tragedy and it needs attention,” Wray said.
In FBI Dallas’s area of responsibility, four police officers have been killed in the line of duty for 2021. This includes a deputy sheriff and sergeant from the Concho County Sheriff’s Office, a sergeant from the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, and a Dallas Police Officer who was assisting a motorist. Overall, seven police officers in Texas were killed in the line of duty during 2021. This surpasses the five police officers feloniously killed in 2020.
“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
- 59 police officers were killed in the line of duty from January 2021 through September 2021.
- This includes two special agents from the FBI’s Miami Field Office.
- Of the 60,105 officers who were assaulted in 2020, 18,568 (30.9%) sustained injuries.
- 44,421 officers were assaulted with personal weapons (e.g., hands, fists, or feet); 25.8% of these officers were injured.
- 2,744 officers were assaulted with firearms; 6.1% of these officers were injured.
- 1,180 officers were assaulted with knives or other cutting instruments; 9.7% of these officers were injured.
- The remaining 11,760 officers were assaulted with other types of dangerous weapons; 16.8% of these officers were injured.
Texas
2020
- 12 officers were assaulted in the state of Texas.
- Two of those assaults occurred in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
- 1 Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officer
- 1 Plano police officer
- 6 officers were accidentally killed in Texas.
- In Grand Prairie, an officer was accidentally struck by a vehicle and died of their injuries.
- 5 officers were feloniously killed in Texas.
- 2 McAllen police officers
- 1 San Marcos police officer
- 1 Houston police officer
- 1 Houston Fire Marshal officer
Data regarding these assaults were released in the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) portion of the FBI’s Law Enforcement Data Explorer. 2020 assault data tables and companion documents are exclusively located on the FBI’s Law Enforcement Data Explorer (a subset of the Crime Data Explorer).
SOURCE: FBI.gov
