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Fewer Law Enforcement Officer Deaths Reported in 2012

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After a two year spike, there’s been a 23% decline in law enforcement officer deaths in the line of duty this year, but Pennsylvania saw its number increase by one to 5, putting it among the top states.

Firearms related deaths are down 31% according to Craig Floyd, CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.  He says traffic related fatalities are down 14%.

Floyd believes two factors are playing a role in the reductions.  He says the United States Attorney General has made law enforcement safety one of his top priorities.  He says he has also seen the same hold true at the state and local levels, where law enforcement safety has grown in significance.

Floyd also believes increased use of body armor is making a difference.  He says more than 31 hundred officers have been documented to have been saved by bullet resistant vests in the last 25 years.

Preliminary figures show 127 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in the United States through mid-December of 2012.

The five Pennsylvania officers who died in the line of duty were: Patrolman Avery Freeman of the Chester Police Department, who died from complications of surgery in April for an injury he suffered while on duty.  Officer Brian Lorenzo of the Philadelphia Police Department was struck head-on by a wrong way driver in July.  Officer Moses Walker Junior of the Philadelphia Police Department was shot while trying to stop two men from robbing him shortly after he finished his shift in August.  Officer Bradley Fox of the Plymouth Township Police Department was shot during a foot pursuit of a suspect in September.   State Trooper Blake Coble was killed when his patrol car was hit by a tractor trailer in October.

2011 Shaping Up to be a Deadly Year for Law Enforcers

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It is shaping up to be a deadly year so far for law enforcement officers in the United States.  98 federal, state and local law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in the first six months of the year, including a Berks County Sheriff’s Deputy who was gunned down while serving a warrant.

Craig Floyd, Chairman of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, says that’s a 14% increase over the same period last year. Firearms deaths are up more than 40%, reaching a 20-year high.  For the period, firearms deaths surpassed traffic-related deaths, which have been the number one killer of law enforcement officers for the last 13 years.  Traffic deaths were down 17% for the first six months.

In Pennsylvania, Berks County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Pagerly was shot and killed while serving a warrant in late June.  The suspect was killed in an exchange of gunfire. His widow is pregnant with the couple’s first child.

Floyd says often, the firearms deaths occur during an arrest situation when officers are serving a warrant.  In the past, he says the suspect might have given up without a confrontation.  Today, he says we’re seeing more of these criminals resist with gunfire.

Domestic disturbance calls are also dangerous for law enforcement officers. Floyd says five of the gunfire deaths in the first six months of the year happened during domestic disturbance calls. He says a third of all the criminal assaults and injuries to officers occurred during domestic calls.

Craig says we need to stop slashing the budgets for law enforcement.  He says we need to give officers the training, equipment and manpower not only to keep our communities safe, but to keep our protectors safe.

Floyd also believes tougher sentences should be imposed on repeat violent offenders.  He says they are responsible for 75% of the violent crime in our nation.

You can see the full report at   www.lawmemorial.org .

Honor Guard photo courtesy of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.