Officer Fatalities 2010

Not good news...a lot more officers went down in the line this year.

Law Enforcement Fatalities Spike Dangerously in 2010

Following a two year decline, law enforcement fatalities in 2010 spiked to 160. This was an increase of nearly 40 percent compared to last year, when 117 officers were killed in the line of duty.

Preliminary data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund show that for the 13th year in a row, traffic fatalities were the leading cause of officer fatalities, with 73 officers killed in the line of duty—an increase of 43 percent from 2009.

Of the 73 traffic-related fatalities in 2010, 50 officers died in automobile crashes, 16 were struck and killed by automobiles while outside of their vehicles, 1 died in a bicycle accident, and 6 died in motorcycle crashes.

Firearm fatalities increased 20 percent, from 49 deaths in 2009 to 59 in 2010. Even more alarming, multiple fatality shootings accounted for nearly 20 percent of all fatal shootings....

The average age of the officers killed in 2010 was 41; the average length of their law enforcement service was nearly 12 years and on average each officer left behind 2 children....