WASHINGTON – The FBI reports that 48 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty last year, that 47 officers died in accidents while on the job and that more than 57,000 officers were assaulted.
The number of officers killed in the line of duty increased by seven from the 2008 figure of 41, but the number was down from the total of 55 five years ago.
The killers used firearms in all but three of the 48 cases.
Law enforcement agencies were able to identify 41 alleged assailants in the 48 killings, and the FBI says 33 of the assailants had prior criminal records.
The FBI says 21 of the 48 killings occurred in the South, 13 in the West, seven in the Northeast and five in the Midwest. Two were in Puerto Rico.
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