FBI Releases 2016 Preliminary Statistics for Law Enforcement Officers Killed in the Line of Duty

Posted on May 17, 2017

Preliminary statistics released today by the FBI show that 66 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2016. This is an increase of 61 percent when compared with the 41 officers killed in 2015. By region, 30 officers died as a result of criminal acts that occurred in the South, 17 officers in the West, 13 officers in the Midwest, four in the Northeast, and two in Puerto Rico.

At the time the 66 law enforcement officers were fatally wounded:

• 17 were ambushed (entrapment/premeditation);
• 13 were answering disturbance calls (seven were domestic disturbance calls);
• nine were investigating suspicious persons/circumstances;
• six were engaged in tactical situations;
• five were performing investigative activities;
• four were conducting traffic pursuits/stops;
• three were investigating drug-related matters;
• three were victims of unprovoked attacks;
• one was answering a robbery in progress call or pursuing a robbery suspect(s);
• one was answering a burglary in progress call or pursuing a burglary suspect(s);
• four were attempting other arrests.

Offenders used firearms in 62 of the 66 felonious deaths. These included 37 incidents with ...

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