FBI
Releases LEOKA Statistics for 2003
Washington, DC - With the release of Law Enforcement
Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2003, the FBI
reported today that 52 law enforcement officers
were feloniously killed in 2003. Forty-six separate
incidents in 25 states claimed the lives of these
officers. Trend data showed that the number of officers
feloniously slain was 4 fewer than in 2002, 10 more
than the 42 slain in 1999, and 27 fewer than the
79 officers killed in 1994. Local, state, tribal,
and federal law enforcement from more than 10,100
agencies submitted data to the FBI’s Uniform
Crime Reporting (UCR) Program about officers who
were killed and assaulted.
Circumstance
Of the 52 officers feloniously slain in 2003, 14
were killed during traffic stops or pursuits. Eleven
were killed in arrest situations, 10 officers while
investigating disturbance calls, 9 in ambush situations,
6 while investigating suspicious persons or circumstances,
and 2 while transporting or handling prisoners.
Weapons
Offenders used firearms to kill 45 of the victim
officers. Of these officers, 34 were slain with
handguns, 10 were killed with rifles, and 1 officer
was killed with a shotgun. Six officers were intentionally
struck by vehicles and 1 officer was beaten to death
with a police baton.
Region
An analysis of data by region showed that 28 of
the felonious deaths occurred in the South, 13 in
the West, 8 in the Midwest, and 3 in the Northeast.
Suspects
A review of the data submitted to the FBI’s
UCR Program in 2003 showed that 58 assailants were
identified in the 46 separate incidents that claimed
the lives of the 52 law enforcement officers who
were killed in the line of duty. Of these 58 assailants,
38 were arrested, 12 were justifiably killed by
persons other than the victim officer, 6 committed
suicide, and 2 of the assailants were justifiably
killed by the victim officer.
Accidental Deaths
In addition to the officers feloniously killed,
80 law enforcement officers were reported as accidentally
killed in 2003, 4 more than the 76 officers accidentally
killed in 2002. Automobile accidents resulted in
the accidental deaths of 49 of the officers. Ten
officers were killed in motorcycle accidents, 10
were struck by vehicles, 4 officers drowned while
performing their official duties, 2 died as a result
of accidental shootings, 2 fell to their deaths,
1 officer was struck by a train, 1 officer was electrocuted,
and 1 was killed in an aircraft accident.
Assaults
The Nations’ law enforcement agencies reported
that 57,841 officers were assaulted while performing
their duties in 2003, and 16,339 officers suffered
injuries as a result of these attacks. Assaults
on officers were most often committed with personal
weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.), used in 81.0
percent of the attacks. Firearms were used in 3.2
percent of assaults on law enforcement officers,
knives or cutting instruments in 1.9 percent, and
other dangerous weapons were used in 13.9 percent
of assaults on officers.
The
complete annual report, Law Enforcement Officers
Killed and Assaulted, 2003, is available at
the FBI’s Internet site at <www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm>.
