Law Enforcement Facts (updated March 2008)

• There are more than 900,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the United States, which is the highest figure ever. About 12 percent of those are female.
  
  
• In 2005, there were an estimated 5.2 million violent crimes committed in the United States (according to the National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics). The annual number of violent crimes has declined by 58% since 1993.
  
  
• Crime fighting has taken its toll. Since the first recorded police death in 1792, there have been more than 18,200 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Currently, there are 18,274 names engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
  
  
• A total of 1,671 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past 10 years, an average of one death every 53 hours or 167 per year. There were 181 law enforcement officers killed in 2007.
  
  
• On average, more than 56,000 law enforcement officers are assaulted each year, resulting in over 16,000 injuries.
  
  
• The 1970s were the deadliest decade in law enforcement history, when a total of 2,276 officers died, or an average of 228 each year. The deadliest year in law enforcement history was 1930, when 279 officers were killed. That figure dropped dramatically in the 1990s, to an average of 160 per year.
  
  
• The deadliest day in law enforcement history was September 11, 2001, when 72 officers were killed while responding to the terrorist attacks on America.
  
  
• New York City has lost more officers in the line of duty than any other department, with 692 deaths. California has lost 1,435 officers, more than any other state. The state with the fewest deaths is Vermont, with 19.
  
  
• There are 951 federal officers listed on the Memorial, as well as 527 correctional officers and 36 military law enforcement officers.



• There are 223 female officers listed on the Memorial, nine of whom were killed prior to 1970.
  
  
• During the past ten years, more officers were killed feloniously on Friday than any other day of the week. The fewest number of felonious fatalities occurred on Sunday. Over the past decade, more officers were killed between 8:01 p.m. and and 10:00 p.m. than during any other two-hour period.
  
  

Download printable version of Law Enforcement Facts. (pdf)