shootdontshoot

According to the FBI, a police officer is killed in the line of duty in a violent assault about once every week. This is in addition to accidental deaths on the job which in and of itself is almost double that number bringing police officer deaths to more then 2 a week. In this article we'd like to bring to light some of the facts that the FBI has given us (based off their 2007 statistics) to*help officer understand the numbers and what we can do to help becoming a statistic.

Overview

Most of the police officers that were slain (35 of 57) were employed by city police departments. Of these 35 officers, 12 of the police officers worked in cities with more then 250,000 inhabitants. This would mean that most of your high crime cities would be in the top percentage of officers becoming slain in the line of duty. Another interesting note is that line-of-duty deaths occurred in 25 states and Puerto Rico. In addition, nine officers were feloniously killed in Texas, the most in any state in 2007.

The Victims' Profiles

The average age of the police officers who were feloniously killed turned out to be 37 years old. These same officers had about 10 years on the job as police officers as well. One of the most interesting things of the officers' profiles was that all 57 deaths were males and not one was a female. As far as the race of the victims, 47 were white, 8 were black, and 1 was Asian/Pacific Islander. And the race of 1 officer was not provided.

How They Were Slain

The FBI's stats told us that 16 of the 57 officers that were slain were from felonious attacks during arrest situations. This tells us that officers need to be extremely careful while making the arrest and during the arrest (i.e. putting on the handcuffs, transporting the suspect, booking the suspect, interrogating, etc.). Another 16 officers were killed as a result of being ambushed. This is by far the most scariest as we cannot predict every ambush. However, officers can at least be aware of this fact and keep it in the back of their minds while performing their duties. 11 of the police officers died during traffic stops and/or pursuits. 5 officers died while responding to disturbance calls, 4 officers died while investigating suspicious persons/circumstances. And 3 officers died during tactical situations.

Police Assignments

The FBI revealed that the officers that were slain were assigned to the following positions/assignments: 40 police officers were on assigned vehicle patrol, while 6 of the slain officers were off duty but acting in an official police capacity. 11 officers were assigned to other duties, such as special assignments or undercover, when they were murdered. And of the 57 officers slain in 2007, 35 were assisted at the time of the attacks. In addition, 16 officers were alone and unassisted at the time of the incidents.

The Weapons That Were Used

Probably to no surprise, almost every police officer was killed with a firearm (55 of the 57). Of these 55, 38 of them were killed with handguns. 2 of the police officers were killed with their own weapons. Interestingly, 16 police officers attempted to use their weapons while 11 of these 16 actually fired their weapons. And another significant fact is that 27 of the 57 officers were slain with firearms when they were 0-5 feet from the offenders. This fact alone tells us we need to be on high alert while in close proximity with suspects, and that when practicing our weapon skills, we need to practice drawing and shooting at close range. Lining up our sites and making nice shooting groups looks and sounds great, but for on the job we need to practice close proximity shooting and fast drawing of our weapons.

Body Armor Worn or Not Worn

Off all the police officers feloniously killed, 36 of the 57 were wearing body armor at the time of their murders. This is pretty scary in and of itself as we feel every officer should be wearing body armor. Of the 34 officers who were wearing body armor and killed with firearms, 15 suffered wounds to the front of the head, 7 were shot in the side of the head, 7 were wounded in the front upper torso, 2 were shot in the rear of the head, 2 officers were shot in the back and 1 was shot in the neck.

Time Of Incidents

Most of the officer deaths (8) that died from felonious assaults occurred in the month of March, more than in any other month. Interestingly, most officers (13) that were involved in fatal assaults occurred on Saturday, more than any other day. 12 of the 57 officers killed in the line of duty died from incidents that occurred on Friday. More officers (12) were fatally injured in assaults that happened from 12:01 a.m. to 2 a.m. than at any other time period.

Suspect Profiles

In 2007, 62 alleged offenders were identified in connection with law enforcement officers feloniously killed. Of those offenders, the following characteristics are known: The average age of the alleged offenders was 29 years old, while the average height was 5 feet 9 inches tall. Their average weight was 177 pounds. All 62 of the alleged offenders were male and 35 of the alleged offenders were white. 24 were black and 3 were Asian/Pacific Islander. Most of the alleged offenders, 58 of the 62, had prior criminal arrests and 19 of the alleged offenders were under judicial supervision at the time of the incidents. 11 of the alleged offenders were intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol at the time of the fatal incidents.

Conclusion

Officers should read over these facts and act and prepare accordingly while performing their job duties. Some things will be completely out of our control, but some things are not. We know that certain areas of our jobs produce much higher risks then others; areas or duties that we tend to see as routine, like traffic stops, handcuffing a suspect, etc. have proven to be higher risk when it comes to officer deaths, yet we do it every day. As officers with 10 or more years on, we tend to let our guard down in these basic routine duties when we should not, and only tend to put our guard up when going to a man with a gun for example. This can get us killed. Practice safety for life!

Source: FBI