243 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
243 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
May 1991
|
||
|
||
|
||
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS KILLED: 1980 1989
|
||
|
||
By
|
||
|
||
Victoria L. Major
|
||
Supervisor, Uniform Crime Reporting Section
|
||
Federal Bureau of Investigation
|
||
Washington, D.C.
|
||
|
||
|
||
The Federal Bureau of Investigation began to maintain and
|
||
to publish statistics on law enforcement officers killed in
|
||
1961. The data collected over the years are a sad legacy of the
|
||
dedicated men and women of this Nation's police forces who lost
|
||
their lives protecting others. Yet, at the same time, the
|
||
information provides an insightful look into this heinous crime.
|
||
This article gives an overview of law enforcement officers
|
||
killed during the years 1980-1989.
|
||
|
||
THE 1980s
|
||
|
||
During the decade of the 1980s, 801 law enforcement
|
||
officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty. Officer
|
||
deaths were recorded in 46 States; the District of Columbia; the
|
||
U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Mariana Islands,
|
||
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; and Mexico. Of the slain
|
||
officers, 442 were employed by city police departments, 208 by
|
||
county police and sheriff's offices, and 84 by State agencies.
|
||
Twenty-three Federal agents and 44 territorial officers were
|
||
also slain.
|
||
|
||
The 1980s total was 30 percent lower than that of the
|
||
1970s, when 1,143 officers were slain. The highest annual total
|
||
during the past decade was in the first year, 1980, when 104
|
||
officers were killed. The lowest totals were in 1986 and 1989,
|
||
when each year registered 66 officers killed. This figure
|
||
represents the lowest annual total since records have been kept.
|
||
|
||
VICTIMS
|
||
|
||
Of the 801 officers killed from 1980 through 1989, 783 were
|
||
male and 18 were female. Seventy-seven officers were under 25
|
||
years of age; 515 were aged 25 to 40; and 209 were over 40 years
|
||
old. By race, 703 of the slain officers were white; 96 were
|
||
black; and 2 were of other races.
|
||
|
||
The law enforcement officers killed during the past decade
|
||
averaged 9 years' law enforcement experience. Veterans of more
|
||
than 10 years accounted for 34 percent of the victim officers.
|
||
Thirty-three percent had from 5 to 10 years of service; 29
|
||
percent, from 1 to 4 years of service; and 5 percent, less than
|
||
1 year of experience.
|
||
|
||
The average height of officers killed during the 10-year
|
||
period was 5 feet 11 inches. Seven of every 10 were in uniform
|
||
when slain.
|
||
|
||
CIRCUMSTANCES
|
||
|
||
Arrest situations resulted in the deaths of law enforcement
|
||
officers more frequently than any other activity during the
|
||
1980s. Two of every 5, or 327, of the officers slain were
|
||
attempting an arrest when killed.
|
||
|
||
Among the remaining victims, 132 were killed upon
|
||
responding to disturbance calls (man with gun, bar fights,
|
||
family quarrels); 117 were investigating suspicious persons or
|
||
circumstances; 107 were conducting traffic pursuits or stops; 71
|
||
were ambushed; 34 were handling, transporting, or maintaining
|
||
custody of prisoners; and 12 were handling mentally deranged
|
||
individuals. One officer was slain during a civil disorder.
|
||
|
||
TYPES OF ASSIGNMENT
|
||
|
||
Patrol officers accounted for nearly two of every three
|
||
officers slain throughout the decade. Detectives or officers on
|
||
special assignment accounted for 23 percent of the victims, and
|
||
12 percent were off duty but acting in an official capacity when
|
||
slain.
|
||
|
||
Of those killed while on patrol, 78 percent were assigned
|
||
to one-officer vehicles, 20 percent to two-officer vehicles, and
|
||
2 percent to foot patrol. Fifty-three percent of the patrol
|
||
officers were alone and unassisted at the time of their deaths,
|
||
while 30 percent of the victim officers on other types of
|
||
assignment were alone and unassisted.
|
||
|
||
WEAPONS
|
||
|
||
Firearms claimed the lives of 92 percent or 735 of the 801
|
||
officers killed in the line of duty from 1980 through 1989.
|
||
Seventy percent of the murders were committed by the use of
|
||
handguns, 13 percent by rifles, and 9 percent by shotguns.
|
||
|
||
The most common types of handguns used against officers
|
||
were the .38 caliber and .357 magnum. These two weapons jointly
|
||
accounted for nearly two of every three handgun deaths.
|
||
|
||
More than one-half of the officers killed by gunshots
|
||
during this same timeframe were within 5 feet of their
|
||
assailants at the time of the attack. Fifty-four percent of the
|
||
firearm fatalities were caused by wounds to the upper torso,
|
||
while 42 percent resulted from wounds to the head.
|
||
|
||
Of the 735 officers killed with firearms, 120 or 16 percent
|
||
were killed with their own weapons. Handguns accounted for 118
|
||
of the service weapons used against the officers; shotguns for
|
||
2. Among the service handguns, 9 of 10 were those using .357-
|
||
or .38-special cartridge types.
|
||
|
||
Weapons other than firearms claimed the lives of 66
|
||
officers during the 10-year period. Thirty-three officers were
|
||
intentionally struck with vehicles, 17 were knifed, 7 were
|
||
beaten with blunt objects, 5 were beaten with personal weapons
|
||
(hands, fists, feet), 2 were burned, 1 was drowned, and 1 was
|
||
asphyxiated.
|
||
|
||
BODY ARMOR
|
||
|
||
Of the 735 officers slain with firearms during the 1980s,
|
||
157 were wearing protective body armor. Wounds to the head
|
||
resulted in the deaths of 94 officers wearing protective armor.
|
||
Thirty-two officers were killed when bullets entered between the
|
||
panels of the vests or through the arm openings. Thirteen were
|
||
killed by wounds to the upper torso outside the area of the
|
||
vests, and 12 by gunshot wounds below the vest area. Six
|
||
officers were slain when bullets penetrated their protective
|
||
vests.
|
||
|
||
In addition to the 157 officers shot and killed while
|
||
wearing vests, 12 victims wearing vests were killed by weapons
|
||
other than firearms. Eight officers wearing vests were
|
||
intentionally struck by vehicles, three were stabbed, and one
|
||
was pushed to his death.
|
||
|
||
PLACES
|
||
|
||
The most populous region, the Southern States, recorded 46
|
||
percent of the officer fatalities in the 1980s. The Western
|
||
States recorded 18 percent of the deaths; the Midwestern States,
|
||
17 percent; the Northeastern States, 13 percent; and U.S.
|
||
territories, 5 percent.
|
||
|
||
A comparison of regional totals for the two periods,
|
||
1980-1984 and 1985-1989, showed that the number of officers
|
||
killed during the latter 5-year span declined in all regions.
|
||
|
||
Among the 50 States, Texas lost more officers to
|
||
line-of-duty deaths than any other during the decade. Four
|
||
States recorded no felonious killings during the 10-year
|
||
period--Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
|
||
|
||
Law enforcement agencies in the Nations largest cities,
|
||
those with more than 250,000 inhabitants, lost more officers to
|
||
line-of-duty deaths than departments in municipalities of any
|
||
other size. These cities collectively recorded 24 percent of
|
||
all felonious killings in the decade. Following were suburban
|
||
county law enforcement agencies, registering 16 percent of the
|
||
slayings.
|
||
|
||
TIMES
|
||
|
||
In the past decade, 62 percent of the incidents resulting
|
||
in officers deaths occurred from 6:01 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The
|
||
figures show the 6:01 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. period to be the hours
|
||
when the fewest officers were slain, while the hours from 8:01
|
||
p.m. to 10:00 p.m. were those during which the highest totals
|
||
were recorded.
|
||
|
||
Daily figures for the decade show more officers were slain
|
||
on Thursdays than on any other day of the week. The fewest
|
||
fatalities were recorded on Sundays. January was the month
|
||
during the 10-year span that registered the highest total, 91;
|
||
August showed the lowest total, 53.
|
||
|
||
ASSAILANTS
|
||
|
||
Ninety-eight percent of the 801 slayings of law enforcement
|
||
officers during the 1980s have been cleared. Of the 1,077
|
||
suspects identified in connection with the murders, 1,034 were
|
||
male and 43 were female. Fifty-six percent of those identified
|
||
were white, 42 percent were black, and 2 percent were of other
|
||
races. Sixty-two percent of the assailants were younger than 30
|
||
years old.
|
||
|
||
Seven of every 10 suspects identified had previous arrests,
|
||
and 5 of 10 had a prior conviction. The records also show that
|
||
3 of every 10 had a prior arrest for a violent crime.
|
||
Twenty-four percent of those identified were on parole or
|
||
probation at the time of the killings.
|
||
|
||
Of the 1,077 persons identified, 879 have been arrested by
|
||
law enforcement agencies. One hundred forty-three were
|
||
justifiably killed, 48 committed suicide, 6 are still at large,
|
||
and 1 was murdered in an unrelated incident.
|
||
|
||
DISPOSITION
|
||
|
||
Based on available disposition information, 70 percent of
|
||
those arrested and charged in connection with the killings of
|
||
law enforcement officers during the 1980s were found guilty of
|
||
murder. Eight percent were found guilty of a lesser offense
|
||
related to murder, and 4 percent were found guilty of some crime
|
||
other than murder. Two percent of those charged were committed
|
||
to psychiatric institutions, and 1 percent died in custody
|
||
before final disposition. Ten percent of the suspects were
|
||
acquitted or had the charges against them dismissed.
|
||
Disposition is pending for 6 percent of the arrestees, the
|
||
majority of whom were arrested in 1988 and 1989.
|
||
|
||
ACCIDENTAL DEATHS
|
||
|
||
In addition to those feloniously killed during the decade,
|
||
713 law enforcement officers lost their lives accidently while
|
||
performing their official duties. The lowest annual total of
|
||
the decade was in 1980 with 61 deaths recorded. The last year
|
||
of the decade, 1989, registered the highest count, 79.
|
||
|
||
Automobile accidents were the leading cause of accidental
|
||
deaths, accounting for 312 fatalities during the decade.
|
||
Following were accidents where officers were struck by vehicles
|
||
at traffic stops, road blocks, while directing traffic or
|
||
assisting motorists, etc. (160); aircraft accidents (89);
|
||
accidental shootings (60); motorcycle accidents (49); and other
|
||
types of accidents, such as falls, drownings, etc. (43).
|
||
Geographically, the Southern States recorded 312 accidental
|
||
deaths; the Western States, 168; the Midwestern States, 116; the
|
||
Northeastern States, 101; Puerto Rico, 10; and Guam, 2. An
|
||
additional four officers were accidentally killed in the line of
|
||
duty while in foreign countries.
|
||
|
||
CONCLUSION
|
||
|
||
Many officers paid the ultimate price in the performance of
|
||
their duties. They accepted the challenges of their profession
|
||
freely and faced each challenge unselfishly. Hopefully, the
|
||
statistics compiled on officer deaths can be used to protect
|
||
those who continue to enforce the laws of this country and
|
||
protect its freedom.
|
||
|