Section I: Law Enforcement Officers Killed.

Methodology

Section I contains statistics on felonious and accidental deaths of duly sworn local, state, and federal law enforcement officers meeting the following criteria: they are working in an official capacity, they have full arrest powers, they wear a badge (ordinarily), they carry a firearm (ordinarily), and they are paid from governmental funds set aside specifically for payment of sworn law enforcement representatives.

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program receives data on officers' deaths from several sources. First, local and state law enforcement agencies participating in the UCR Program notify the national Program of duty-related deaths. Contributors submit preliminary data about any officer killed in the line of duty within their jurisdictions. In addition, FBI field divisions and legal attach offices also report such incidents occurring in the United States and its territories, as well as those in which a United States law enforcement officer dies while assigned to duties in another country. Finally, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, administrator of the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program, maintains contact throughout the year, supplying the national UCR Program with information regarding officers whose survivors have received benefits. This threefold reporting procedure ensures the validity and completeness of the data.

Once the national Program receives notification of a line-of-duty death, the staff send inquiries through FBI field divisions to the victim officer's employing agency to obtain additional details concerning the circumstances surrounding the incident. Additionally, the national staff furnish the agency with information concerning two federal programs that provide benefits to survivors of federal and nonfederal law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. The national Program staff also obtain pertinent criminal history data concerning the individuals identified in connection with felonious killings from the FBI's Interstate Identification Index.

Overview

During 2000, a total of 51 law enforcement officers fell victim to murder while performing their official duties. City police departments employed 27 of the fallen officers; county police and sheriffs' offices, 21 victims; and state agencies, 3 officers. Law enforcement agencies in 21 states and Puerto Rico lost officers through line-of-duty felonious killings. (See Table 1.) Fifty separate incidents, one of which occurred 43 years ago and another which occurred 23 years ago, claimed the lives of the 51 officers. Arrests or circumstances of exceptional means cleared 49 of these incidents.

The number of officers slain in 2000 increased 21.4 percent from the 42 officer fatalities of 1999. Five- and 10-year trends show the number of officers slain in 2000 was 16.4 percent lower than in 1996 and 28.2 percent lower than in 1991.

Victims

The data reported to the national Program about victim officers show that the average age of the 51 officers slain during 2000 was 38. Five fallen officers were under the age of 25, and 11 were between 25 and 30 years of age. Eighteen victims were aged 31 through 40, and 17 were over 40 years of age. Fifty of the officers who lost their lives in 2000 were male, and 1 was female. Thirty-nine of the officers slain were white, and 11 officers were black. Race was not reported for one victim. (See Table 24.)

On the average, victim officers in 2000 had 9 years of law enforcement experience. Twenty victim officers had served the law enforcement community more than 10 years, and 11 fallen officers had between 5 and 10 years of service. Additionally, 17 victims had 1 through 4 years of service, and 3 officers had less than 1 year of service.

Circumstances Surrounding Deaths

The data collected on the circumstances surrounding officers' deaths reveal that 13 officers were slain while conducting traffic pursuits/stops, 12 were killed during arrest situations, 10 were killed in ambush situations, and 8 were murdered upon responding to disturbance calls. Six officers were killed while investigating suspicious persons or circumstances, and 2 were slain while handling or transporting prisoners. Of the 12 officers slain during arrest situations in 2000, 2 officers were killed by burglary suspects, 2 by robbery suspects, 3 by suspects during drug-related situations, and 5 by assailants suspected of other crimes. (See Table 17.)

Types of Assignment

In 2000, the data reported to the national Program show that 39 of the 51 victims were assigned to vehicle patrol. Of those officers killed while on vehicle patrol, 31 were assigned to one-officer vehicles and 8 to two-officer vehicles. Seven of the 51 victims were performing detective duties or were on special assignment, and 5 officers were off duty but acting in an official capacity as law enforcement officers when they were killed. (See Table 20.)

From 1991 through 2000, most of the victim officers, 63.5 percent, were conducting vehicle patrols at the time of the felonious incidents that led to their death. In addition, 14.6 percent of the total victim officers were acting in an official capacity though off duty at the time of their fatal incidents. Data collected regarding the officers' assignments also reveal that during the 10-year period, 49.6 percent of the vehicle patrol officers were alone and unassisted when they were killed, 41.7 percent of the foot patrol officers were alone and unassisted, and 30.2 percent of the victim officers on other types of assignments were alone and unassisted. (See Table 21.)

Alleged Assailants

The data collected by the national UCR Program on alleged assailants reveal that a total of 65 suspects were identified in conjunction with the 50 separate incidents in which an officer was feloniously killed. Two offenders remain unidentified. Of the 65 identified suspects, 37 were under the age of 31. By gender, 63 were male and 2 were female. Race data, which were not reported for 2 suspects, indicate that 47 of the identified suspects were white, and 16 were black. (See Table 25.)

The criminal histories of the 65 identified suspects show that 52 had previous arrests; 20 of those arrests were for crimes of violence and 9 specifically for assaulting an officer or resisting arrest. Thirty of the identified suspects had prior convictions, and 20 had been apprehended for weapons violations. At the time of the killings, 12 of the identified suspects were on probation or parole. (See Table 25.)

In 2000, law enforcement agencies arrested 51 of the 65 identified suspects in conjunction with officers' felonious deaths. Victim officers justifiably killed 3 of their assailants, and persons other than the victim officers justifiably killed 6 suspects. Five subjects committed suicide after slaying the officers.

The time period for disposition data for known assailants lags 2 years behind current year's data in this publication due to sometimes lengthy court proceedings. For the 10-year period 1989 through 1998, the dispositions of the 910 persons identified in connection with officers' murders show that 720 suspects were arrested and charged, 178 died prior to their arrest, and 12 assailants remain fugitives. Further, of the 178 deceased assailants, 109 were justifiably killed, 63 committed suicide, 4 died under other circumstances, and 2 were murdered while at large. (See Table 26.)

The adjudication process determined that 500 of the 720 persons arrested and charged between 1989-1998 were guilty of murder. Of the 500 offenders found guilty of murder, 107 were sentenced to death, 236 received life imprisonment, 155 were given prison terms ranging from 18 months through 396 years, and 2 were placed on probation. Further, of these 720 arrestees, another 70 were found guilty of a lesser offense that was related to murder, and 39 were found guilty of a crime other than murder. Fifty-six arrestees were acquitted or had charges against them dismissed or nolle prossed, 24 have cases that remain pending or their dispositions are unknown at present, 16 have been committed to psychiatric institutions, and 10 died in custody before a final disposition was determined. Sentences remain indeterminate for 5 of the persons charged. (See Table 26.)

Weapons

Weapons data reported to the national Program reveal the following information. Assailants used firearms in 47 of the 51 officer killings in 2000, including the victim officer's service weapon in one instance. Of these fire-arms used, 33 were handguns, 10 were rifles, and 4 were shotguns. The most common handgun cartridge type used against officers was the 9 mm, which accounted for 8 of the handguns used in the officers' deaths. In addition to those killed by firearms, 3 officers were intentionally struck by vehicles, and 1 was slain with a knife. (See Tables 1 and 6.)

From 1991 through 2000, 601 or 93.3 percent of the 644 officers slain in the line of duty were killed by fire-arms, including 70.2 percent by handguns, 17.7 percent by rifles, and 5.4 percent by shotguns. Other weapons, i.e., knives or cutting instruments, blunt objects, etc., were used in 6.7 percent of officer deaths. (See Table 3.) Furthermore, during this 10-year period, 51 officers were slain with their own weapons, and 142 victim officers fired their service weapons. In addition, the weapons of 104 officers were stolen.

Among the 601 officers who died of gunshot wounds from 1991 to 2000, 50.4 percent were within 5 feet of their assailant at the time of the fatal attack. (See Table 7.) The data collected about location of the fatal wounds show that 48.4 percent of the firearm fatalities were a result of wounds to the head. Upper torso wounds claimed the lives of 45.6 percent of the victim officers, and wounds below the waist took the lives of 6.0 percent. (See Table 8.)

Body Armor 

The data collected over the past 10 years show that 293 officers wearing body armor died from gunshot wounds--168 suffered gunshot wounds to the head, 109 to the upper torso, and 16 below the waist. (See Table 9.) Of 109 victim officers who died of upper torso gunshot wounds despite their body armor, 46 officers were killed as the result of bullets entering between the side panels or the armholes of the vests. Additionally, of these 109 officers, wounds above the vest area claimed the lives of 35 officers, and penetration by bullets that went through their vests caused the deaths of 20 officers. Eight officers died as a result of wounds in the abdominal or lower back area not protected by their vests. (See Table 10.)

During the years 1991-2000, 12 officers wearing body armor were killed by weapons other than firearms. Seven were intentionally struck by vehicles, 2 were beaten or strangled, 2 were stabbed, and 1 was struck on the head with a blunt object.

Places

By region, the data show that 32 of the 51 officer fatalities in 2000 occurred in the South. Thirteen officers were killed in the Midwest, and 4 officers were killed in the West. No officer fatalities occurred in the Northeast. Two officers were slain in Puerto Rico. (See Table 16.)

In the past 10 years, the South reported 281 officer fatalities; the West, 122; the Midwest, 118; and the Northeast, 70. Fifty-three law enforcement officers were killed in U.S. Territories.

Times

During the past decade, the data contributed by law enforcement agencies show that 59.1 percent of the felonious incidents resulting in officers' deaths occurred from 6:01 p.m.-6 a.m. The greatest number of officers were slain during the 6-hour period from 8:01 p.m.-2 a.m., and the fewest were killed during the 4-hour period from 4:01 a.m.-8 a.m. (See Table 12.)

From 1991-2000, more officers were slain on a Monday than on any other day of the week. The fewest number of fatalities occurred on a Tuesday. (See Table 13.) The monthly data for the same time frame show January and April as the months with the highest number of officer fatalities with 63 and 69, respectively. The fewest officers, 42, were murdered in November. (See Table 14.)

Accidental Deaths

According to reported data, 84 officers lost their lives in 2000 due to accidents while serving in their official capacity. Automobile, motorcycle, and aircraft accidents claimed 55 law enforcement officers' lives, making vehicle accidents the greatest cause of accidental deaths. Fourteen officers were accidentally struck by vehicles. Three officers were accidental shooting victims, and 12 were killed in other types of accidents. (See Table 27.)

Regionally, 35 of the 84 accidental deaths occurred in the South. Twenty accidental deaths occurred in the Midwest, 15 in the West, 13 in the Northeast, and 1 in Puerto Rico. (See Table 32.)