WASHINGTON — Texas, California, Florida and New York lead the nation in police officer deaths in the line of duty this year, according to data…
WASHINGTON — Texas, California, Florida and New York lead the nation in police officer deaths in the line of duty this year, according to data released Thursday.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said in a report that Texas and the three other states had 11 officers die in the line of duty in 2018. Overall, 144 federal, state and local officers have died. That figure represents roughly a 12 percent increase from the 129 who died in 2017, according to the report.
The most common cause of death was gunfire, and vehicular accidents claimed nearly as many officers’ lives.
The majority of the officers who died were either shot — 52 this year, up from 46 in 2017 — or fatally injured in car or motorcycle crashes, which accounted for 50 deaths. Other fatalities involved heart attacks, strokes, drownings and cancer and other illnesses among those who responded to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack.
Of the officers who were shot, eight were killed during investigative activity and six were killed while responding to calls of a domestic or public disturbance, according to the report. Two were fatally shot while serving warrants, two died while handling or transporting prisoners and two others were inadvertently shot by other officers.
Craig Floyd, the fund’s chief executive officer, called the increase in deaths disappointing after a decline in 2017.
