Law Enforcement Officers Accidentally Killed
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This page provides information about duly sworn local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement officers who were accidentally killed in the line of duty in 2005 and met certain other criteria.
Overview
- 67 law enforcement officers died as the result of accidents that occurred in the line of duty.
- 62 law enforcement agencies in 23 states and Puerto Rico reported that officers from their jurisdictions died in accidents. (Based on Table 62.)
- The greatest number (29) of officers accidentally killed was employed by city police departments.
More information about these topics (including annual totals from 1996 to 2005) is provided in Tables 46, 47, and 62.
Victim Profile
- 37 years old—the average age of officers who were accidentally killed in 2005.
- 10 years—the average length of law enforcement service.
- 64 of the officers accidentally killed were male.
- 59 of the officers accidentally killed were white; 7 were black; 1 officer was Asian/Pacific Islander.
More information about these topics is provided in Tables 51, 52, 55, and 56.
Circumstances
- 39 officers died in 2005 as a result of automobile accidents.
- 11 officers were struck and killed by vehicles.
- 4 officers died of injuries sustained in motorcycle accidents.
- 4 officers died as a result of accidental shootings.
More information about this topic (including a complete breakdown of the types of circumstances in which officers accidentally died) is provided in Table 62.
10-year data on circumstances surrounding the deaths of officers who died as a result of accidents is provided in Table 59.
Regional and outlying area breakdowns
Of the 67 officers who were accidentally killed in the line of duty in 2005:
- 30 officers were employed by law enforcement agencies in the South.
- 14 officers were employed by agencies in the West.
- 13 officers were employed by agencies in the Midwest.
- 7 officers were employed by agencies in the Northeast.
- 3 officers were employed by agencies in Puerto Rico.
More information about this topic (including annual totals from 1996 to 2005) is provided in
Table 46.
Months, days, and times of incidents
Month
- More officers (10 in each month) died from accidents that occurred in September and October than in any other month.
- The fewest number of officers (2 in each month) died from accidents that occurred in January and April.
Day
- More officers (18) were involved in fatal accidents that occurred on Wednesday than on any other day.
- The fewest accidental fatalities (3) occurred on Mondays.
Time
- More officers (25) died of injuries from accidents that occurred from 12: 01 a.m. to 6 a.m. than any time period.
- 19 officers were fatally injured in accidents that happened from 4: 01 p.m. to 10 p.m.
More information about these topics (including annual totals from 1996 to 2005) is provided in Tables 48, 49, and 50.
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.
