AG Sessions: 'Shocking' rise in law enforcement officers killed and assaulted in 2016

The FBI issued a new report today on the number of law enforcement officers killed and assaulted in 2016. The Department of Justice issued a press release which quotes Attorney General Jeff Sessions stating, “last year, we saw a staggering 61 percent increase in the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty because of a felony, and on average, more than 150 officers were assaulted in the line of duty every single day.” Sessions added, “These numbers are as shocking as they are unacceptable.” From the press release:

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According to statistics collected by the FBI, 118 law enforcement officers were killed in line-of-duty incidents in 2016 – this is a 37 percent increase from 2015, when 86 law enforcement officers were killed in line-of-duty incidents.

Additionally, in 2016 there were 66 law enforcement officers killed in line-of-duty incidents as a result of felonious acts – this is a staggering 61 percent increase from 2015, when 41 law enforcement officer were killed in line-of-duty incidents.

Moreover, 57,180 officers were victims of line-of-duty assaults – this is a 14 percent rise from the 50,212 officer that were victims of line-of-duty assaults in 2015.

The number of officers killed as a result of felonious acts (excluding accidents) is the highest it has been since 2011 when 72 officers were killed (the number killed was also lower from 2007-2010 than this year). The number of assaults is the highest it has been since 2009 when the FBI reported 58,364 assaults on officers.

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The FBI created pie charts to illustrate some of the data including this one covering all 509 officers killed between 2007 and 2016:

The full report is available on the FBI website.

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