NCJ Number
176630
Date Published
1998
Length
98 pages
Annotation
This report contains 1997 statistics on felonious or accidental assaults on and deaths of sworn local, State, and Federal law enforcement officers and on assaults on criminal justice officers employed by several Federal Government entities.
Abstract
During 1997, uniform crime reports from 29 States and the District of Columbia indicated 65 officers were killed in the line of duty. Of the victims, 34 were employed by city police departments, 20 by county police and sheriff offices, 9 by State agencies, and 2 by Federal agencies. The total was 16 percent higher in 1997 than in 1996 when 56 officers were killed in the line of duty. Other comparisons showed the number of officers killed in 1997 was 7 percent lower than in 1993 and 17 percent lower than in 1988. The 65 officers killed in 1997 were males and averaged 10 years of police experience; 19 lost their lives during arrest situations, 14 were killed in responding to disturbances, and the largest percentage were assigned to vehicle patrol when they were killed. Of 967 persons identified as assailants between 1986 and 1995, 775 were arrested and charged, 118 were justifiably killed, 1 was murdered in an unrelated incident, 62 committed suicide, and 11 remained fugitives. Firearms claimed the lives of 92 percent of officers killed between 1988 and 1997. Of 253 officers wearing body armor when killed with firearms between 1986 and 1995, 152 suffered gunshot wounds to the head, 83 suffered gunshot wounds to the upper torso, and 18 suffered gunshot wounds below the waist. In 1997, 11 out of every 100 officers in the United States were assaulted. Southern and western regions registered the highest assault rates at 13 per 100 officers each. The 1997 assault rate of 10.9 per 100 officers dropped 13 percent below the 1996 rate of 12.5, and this rate was 26 percent below the 1993 rate and 31 percent below the 1988 rate. Assaults resulted in personal injury to 13,105 officers in 1997, and 83 percent of assaults were committed with personal weapons. Responding to disturbance calls resulted in more officer assaults than any other circumstance. Four of five officers assaulted were on vehicle patrol at the time they were attacked. About 93 percent of all reported assaults on officers were cleared by arrest or exceptional means. The following Federal agencies reported 628 assaults on officers in 1997: Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, Department of the Treasury, U.S. Capitol Police, and U.S. Postal Service. Two officers employed by these agencies were killed in the line of duty, and personal injuries were suffered by an additional 157 officers. 42 tables and 3 figures