Federal Law Enforcement Officers Killed
and Assaulted
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This page furnishes information regarding federal law enforcement officers who were killed or assaulted in the line of duty in 2005 and who met the appropriate criteria.
Overview
- 1,882 federal law enforcement officers were assaulted; 309 of these officers were injured, and 1 was killed.
By department:
- The Department of Homeland Security employed 1,159 of the federal officers who were assaulted. Of these officers:
- 139 were injured.
- 1 sworn officer (assigned to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was feloniously killed.
- The Department of the Interior employed 528 of the officers who were assaulted, and 109 of these officers were injured.
- The Department of Justice employed 162 of the officers who were assaulted, and 42 of these officers were injured.
- The U.S. Postal Inspection Service employed 18 of the officers who were assaulted, and 12 of these officers were injured.
- The U.S. Capitol Police employed 12 of the officers who were assaulted, and 7 of these officers were injured.
- The Department of the Treasury employed 3 of the officers who were assaulted, and none of the officers were injured.
More information about this topic is provided in Tables 72 and 73.
See also Summary of Assaults by Department.
Weapons
- 605 officers were attacked with personal weapons such as hands, fists, or feet; 229 of these assaults resulted in injury to a federal officer.
- 161 federal officers were accosted with firearms. One officer was killed, and 16 officers were injured in attacks with firearms.
- 120 officers were attacked with vehicles; 31 of these officers were injured.
- Threats to inflict injury were made against 289 officers.
More information about this topic (including a complete breakdown of the types of weapons used to attack federal officers) is provided in Table 74.
Circumstances
- 996 of the 1,882 federal officers assaulted in 2005 were on patrol/guard duty when they were assaulted.
- 391 officers were assaulted while attempting arrests or trying to serve summonses.
- 242 federal officers were assaulted while maintaining the custody of prisoners.
More information about this topic (including a complete breakdown of the types of circumstances in which federal officers were attacked) is provided in Table 78.
Regional and outlying area breakdowns
Of the 1,882 federal law enforcement officers who were assaulted in 2005:
- 952 officers were stationed in the West.
- 463 officers were stationed in the South.
- 412 officers were stationed in the Midwest.
- 44 officers were stationed in the Northeast.
- 10 officers were stationed in Puerto Rico and Other Outlying Areas.
- 1 officer was stationed in Mexico.
More information about this topic is provided in Table 76.
Profile of alleged assailants
- 653 alleged assailants were identified in connection with the 1,882 assaults on federal officers.
- Disposition information was not reported for 1,895 known assailants.
- Disposition information available at the time this report was prepared is provided in Table 79.
Five-year totals
From 2001 through 2005, 3,964 federal officers were assaulted. Of these, 2 were killed.
- 1 of the officers, slain in 2002, was a ranger with the Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
- 1 officer with the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was killed in 2005.
More information about this topic is provided in Table 74.
Trend data from the past 5 years do not include the officers who died as a result of the events of September 11, 2001. Combining these data with the statistics traditionally included in the annual LEOKA reports would have had an outlier effect, skewing measurements and analyses of LEOKA data.
If you have questions about these data
Contact the Communications Unit of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division via e-mail at cjis_comm@leo.gov or by telephone at (304) 625-4995.
