Key Data About The Profession

Crime Fighting Has Taken Its Toll

Since the first recorded police death in 1786, there have been more than 23,000 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Currently, there are 23,785 names engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

The New York City Police Department has lost more officers in the line of duty than any other department, with 1,038 deaths. Texas has lost 1,981 officers, more than any other state. The state with the fewest deaths is Vermont, with 25.

800,000

There are more than 800,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the United States, which is the highest figure ever. About 12 percent of those are female.

Fallen Sisters

There are 1,299 federal officers listed on the Memorial, as well as 928 correctional officers and 55 military law enforcement officers.

There are 472 female officers listed on the Memorial; 18 female officers were killed in 2022.

Please note: number of military officers has gone down because it was incorrectly categorized, those officers should have been under the federal umbrella.

9/11

The deadliest day in law enforcement history was September 11, 2001, when 72 officers were killed while responding to the terrorist attacks on America.

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report 2021 LEOKA report:

There have been 43,649 assaults against law enforcement officers (this includes federal, state, and local agencies) in 2021, resulting in 15,369 injuries.

Deadly 2020 and 2021

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic that plagued the world in 2020, 417 officers died in 2020 (258 Covid-19-related) and an astonishing 623 officers were killed in 2021 (436 Covid-19-related) .

Triple Your Impact

Clint Eastwood, Honorary Board Chair of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, believes that it is important to support law enforcement year-round. He will match your new monthly donation for your first 3 months. Your gift will be matched 3 times!