2013: Fewest police deaths by firearms since 1887

[Jumping Frog]

According to the news report, 111 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial officers were killed in the line of duty nationwide this past year, compared to 121 in 2012.

There were 33 firearm deaths, the lowest since 1887.

The annual report from the nonprofit National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund also found that all deaths in the line of duty generally fell by 8 percent and were the fewest since 1959.

The report credits better equipment, correlates to better safety stats for the LEO's. 1887, that's going back a ways..

The report credits an increased culture of safety among law-enforcement agencies, including increased use of bulletproof vests, that followed a spike in law-enforcement deaths in 2011.

Not sure "The Crime Blotter" is the correct section for this news story, but it was the best I could do.

[jmra]

Two things come to mind.
How can they close out the year before the year is over?
If you look at the breakdown of the 33 shooting deaths, drug related is 0. How are they classifying the death of the Burleson officer? I thought they were serving a warrant for drugs. Unless it is one of the two accidental shootings, I don't see any other category it could fit under.

[texanjoker]

i read that earlier. I wish they would also post the number that were shot and survived.

[Jaguar]

i read that earlier. I wish they would also post the number that were shot and survived.

You have a point, how many deaths would there have been in the Civil War had we had modern medicine back then.

[psijac]

A suprising amount of police deaths occur from traffic accidents where the officer was not where his or her seatbelt

[03Lightningrocks]

I am amazed at the number of assaults on police officers. I would have never guessed that so many criminals would be so stupid.