Law Enforcement Fatalities Drop Dramatically in 2008
*Law Enforcement Deaths Drop in 2008 but Struck By and Vehicle Related LODD's Rise- Full Report from CVVFA Emergency Responder Safety Institute Member Craig Floyd Chairman and CEO National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund *
To: The Readers of Respondersafety.com
From: Craig Floyd NLEOMF
We are releasing our preliminary end-of-year law enforcement fatality report today. Appreciating your interest and support, I wanted you to have a copy of the report and the related press release.
The bad news is that 140 officers died in the line of duty in 2008. The encouraging part of the story, though, is that this is a 23% decline from the 181 officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in 2007.
A couple other points of emphasis: 41 officers were shot and killed in 2008, compared to 68 in 2007. That represents a 40% decline. It was also the fewest officers shot and killed in a single year since 1956.
For the 11th year in a row, traffic-related fatalities were the highest category of death, with 71 officers killed in auto crashes, motorcycle crashes and struck while outside of their vehicle. Sadly 17 officers were stuck and killed outside their vehicle an increase of 3 over 2007.
15 female officers were killed in the line of duty in 2008. This ties 2002 with the highest number of female officers killed ever in a single year, and it was the first time that more than 10% of the officers killed in a year were female.
Thanks to your support, we are able to research law enforcement fatalities and provide the law enforcement community with the important information we gather about safety trends and concerns. I strongly believe this information helped to save officer lives in 2008. We will honor these fallen heroes on the National Memorial next May, and the National Law Enforcement Museum we are building will allow us to tell their inspiring stories for generations to come. Thanks! Craig
P.S. Click on the following links to see the USA Today and AP articles that came out today discussing this report.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-12-28-copdeaths_N.htm
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D95CH2T00&show_article=1
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