The num­ber of police offi­cers killed by gun­fire in 2008 dropped by 40% from 2007, down to its low­est lev­el in more than 50 years, accord­ing to a report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The report attrib­uted the decline to a new empha­sis on offi­cer safe­ty train­ing and equip­ment. In addi­tion to increased train­ing, more offi­cers are wear­ing body armor and using stun guns to pro­tect them­selves. The over­all num­ber of offi­cers killed in the line of duty also declined in 2008.

Ed Nowicki, the Executive Director of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, expressed con­cern that the tight econ­o­my and shrink­ing police bud­gets might force depart­ments to cut back train­ing. ​“You need cars, you need firearms, you need uni­forms. Training is an abstract,” Nowicki said. ​“The num­ber of deaths in 2008 is noth­ing com­pared to the deaths in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. It was much high­er then. Better train­ing and equip­ment have made the dif­fer­ence.”

(D. Leinwand, ​“40% few­er offi­cers killed by gun­fire in ​’08,” USA Today, December 31, 2008). See Deterrence and Studies. Use of the death penal­ty has also been declin­ing in recent years, accord­ing to the Death Penalty Information Center’s Year End Report for 2008. See also DPIC’s report, On the Front Line: Law Enforcement Views on the Death Penalty. 

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