On November 24, the FBI released a report on law enforce­ment offi­cers killed in the line of duty in 2013. Twenty-sev­en (27) offi­cers were killed in ​“felo­nious acts,” a 45% drop com­pared to 2012, when 49 offi­cers were killed, and a 53% decline since 2004. Most (15) of the 27 offi­cers killed were in the South, with Texas hav­ing the high­est num­ber of any state (6). Six offi­cers were killed in the West, four in the Midwest, and only two in the Northeast. California had the sec­ond high­est num­ber, with 5. In 26 out of the 27 inci­dents, offi­cers were killed by firearms. Forty-nine (49) oth­er offi­cers died as a result of accidents.

(Press Release, ​“FBI Releases 2013 Statistics on Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, November 24, 2014). See Studies and Deterrence.

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