The number of officers who died in the line of duty in the first half of 2023 decreased by 66% compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary data released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
This article appeared in the July/August issue of OFFICER Magazine. Click Here to subscribe to OFFICER Magazine.
The report found that as of June 30, 52 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers lost their lives while performing their duties in 2023. That number marks a dramatic decrease from the 153 officers killed during the same period in 2022. Line-of-duty deaths are down across all categories, but the overall decrease is largely a result of a reduction in reports of COVID-19 related deaths.
“There is no good news in reporting the death of even a single police officer,” National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Interim CEO Bill Alexander said in a statement, “Based on this preliminary data, we are cautiously optimistic that conditions may be improving for our law enforcement professionals who willingly put themselves at risk to serve and protect.”
Traffic-related fatalities saw a decrease of 63% compared to the 30 crash-related deaths during the same period last year. Two officers were struck and killed deploying Tire Deflation Devices. Both officers were from the same agency, but killed in separate incidents. These two struck-by fatalities represent an 82% decrease, from 11 last year.
During the first half of 2023, 25 officers died from felonious assaults, all of whom were killed in the line of duty as a of a result of being fatally shot. The 25 officers killed by firearms represents a 24% decrease over the 33 officers killed in firearms-related fatalities during the first six months of 2022. The leading circumstance of firearms fatalities were officers handling domestic disturbances
During the first six months of 2023, 14 officers died of other causes such as aircraft accidents, fire-related incidents and physical-related illnesses including heart attacks and strokes suffered while in the performance of their official duties. In addition, two officers died from Covid-19, compared to 72 officer deaths in the same period last year.
In the first half of 2023, six officers from the state of Louisiana and four officers each from the states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were killed in the line of duty. Three officers each from California, Florida, Indiana, New Jersey and Oklahoma, and two officers each from the states of Illinois, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee died. One officer died in the states of Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. One federal officer died and 26 states, the District of Columbia, Tribal and U.S. Territories did not lose an officer in the first half of the year.
Looking at gender, 47 fallen officers were male and five were female. The average age of the fallen officers was 40 years, with an average of 12 years of service. On average, each fallen officer left behind two children.
The statistics released in the report are based on preliminary data compiled by the NLEOMF and may not represent a final or complete list of officers who will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in 2024.
View the full report at: officer.com/53066358
This article appeared in the July/August issue of OFFICER Magazine.
Paul Peluso | Editor
Paul Peluso is the Managing Editor of OFFICER Magazine and has been with the Officer Media Group since 2006. He began as an Associate Editor, writing and editing content for Officer.com. Previously, Paul worked as a reporter for several newspapers in the suburbs of Baltimore, MD.
