126 Law Enforcement Fatalities Nationwide in 2014
According to preliminary data compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 126 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2014, a 24 percent increase from 2013, when 102 officers were killed.
Firearms-related incidents were the leading cause of death among law enforcement officers in 2014. Firearms-related fatalities accounted for 50 deaths, increasing 56 percent from 2013 when 32 officers were killed.
Traffic-related incidents were the second leading cause of officer deaths in 2014, killing 49 officers. Thirty-five officers died in automobile crashes, nine officers were struck and killed outside their vehicle and five officers were killed in motorcycle crashes. Traffic-related fatalities increased 11 percent from 2013 when 44 officers were killed.
Twenty-seven officers died from other causes in 2014 compared to 26 in 2013, a four percent increase. Job-related illnesses, such as heart attacks, nearly doubled in 2014 with 24 officer deaths compared to 13 officers in 2013.
Sixty-two officers were killed in felonious incidents, a 40 percent increase from 2013, and 64 officers died as a result of non-felonious incidents, increasing 10 percent.
California led the nation in officer fatalities, losing 14 officers in 2014. Texas followed closely behind with 11 fatalities, while New York lost nine officers. Florida lost six officers and Georgia lost five officers. Six federal officers, five officers from U.S. territories, two tribal officers, two correctional officers and a military officer were killed in 2014. Twelve states and the District of Columbia did not lose an officer in 2014.
Three of the fallen officers were female. The average age of a fallen officer was 41, with an average of 12 years of service. Each officer left behind two children on average.
For a more acute look at this data, check out the FEDagent blog in the following days for posts covering each of the following subsets, with accompanying graphs:
For more information about the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, please visit www.nleomf.org. For more information about the National Law Enforcement Museum, please visit www.nleomf.org/museum.