Law Enforcement Officer Safety Trends and Issues May 17, 2012 Craig W. Floyd Chairman & CEO National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund

The Big Picture • 19,660 Officers on the Memorial ▫ Firearms-related deaths: 10,973 (56%) ▫ Traffic-related deaths: 5,449 (28%) ▫ Other causes: 3,238 (16%)

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Firearms-related Fatalities in the US: 1972-2011 300

Firearms-related Fatalities Down 44% 250 126 200

150 100

50 0

3

70

Firearms-related Fatalities: 2001-2011 80

70

75% Increase from Decade Low in 2008

72

60

70

69

60

50

59

60

59 54

50

49

40

40

30 20 10

0 2001

4

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Law Enforcement Officer Fatalities: 2009 v. 2010 2010

2009

% Change

154

122

+26%

Firearms-related

59

49

+20%

Traffic-related

71

52

+37%

Other Causes

24

21

+14%

Total Fatalities

Lowest in 50 years

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Law Enforcement Officer Fatalities: 2010 v. 2011 2011

2010

% Change

163

154

+6%

Firearms-related

70

59

+19%

Traffic-related

59

71

- 17%

Other Causes

34

24

+42%

Total Fatalities

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2011— Facts Worth Noting • First time in 14 years that firearms-related deaths outnumbered traffic-related deaths • Firearms-related deaths rose for the third year in a row • Law enforcement fatalities have risen by more than 30 percent since 2009

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2011: Firearms-related Fatalities Breakdown • Circumstances of 70 Firearmsrelated fatalities: ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫

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Attempting Arrest: 14 Domestic Disturbance Call: 10 Investigating Suspicious Person/Circumstances: 9 Robbery in Progress: 7 Feloniously Killed During Traffic Stop: 6 Disturbance Calls: 6 Ambush: 4 Burglary in Progress: 4 Accidental Shootings: 3 Handling Mentally Deranged Persons: 2 Tactical, Hostage, Barricaded Offender: 2 Handling, Transporting, Custody of Prisoners: 2 Traffic Pursuits: 1

Top Three Circumstances Account for 47% of all firearms-related fatalities in 2011

Investigating Suspicious Person/Circumstances

9

10

Domestic Disturbance Call

Attempting Arrest

14

0

5

10

15

2011: Possible Reasons for Rise • Budget cuts ▫ According to a recent survey by the International Association of Chiefs of Police: o 60% of responding departments cut back on training o 64% of responding departments cut back on buying or upgrading major equipment o 58% of responding departments cut back on buying or upgrading technology

• More desperate, cold-blooded, brazen criminals • Technology and communications advances increasing confrontational situations between officers and criminals

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Areas of Concern • Past two years more than 30% of officers killed in the line of duty were not wearing body armor when they died • 164 cop killers over last 10 years were out on parole or probation for another crime when they killed officer

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Attorney General Holder Responds • Law Enforcement Safety Summit • National Officer Safety & Wellness Group • VALOR

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Efforts to improve officer safety led by Attorney General Holder (brother a retired Port Authority Police Lt.)

Law Enforcement Safety Summit • Law enforcement leaders convene in DC • U.S. Attorneys directed to meet with local law enforcement leaders • No reliable database for gun dealers to check for history of mental illness • Tougher criminal justice for the “worst of the worst” violent offenders 12

Profile of Cop Killers: 2001-2010 • Of the 587 known offenders in connection with felonious law enforcement officer deaths from 2001-2010: ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ S

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Average age: 30 years old 575 (98%) were male; 12 (2%) were female 483 (82%) had prior criminal arrests 133 (23%) had prior criminal arrest for assaulting an officer/resisting arrest 164 (28%) were under judicial supervision at the time of the incidents 65 (11%) were under the influence of a controlled substance at the time 59 (10%) were under the influence of alcohol or were intoxicated at the time our

Profile of Officers Killed: 2011 • Of the 163 officers killed in 2011: ▫ Average age: 41 years old ▫ Average length of law enforcement service: 13 years ▫ 152 (93%) were male; 11 (7%) were female

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National Officer Safety & Wellness Group • Joint project launched by BJA and COPS Office ▫ Brings together law enforcement thought leaders, criminal justice practitioners and others

• Goal: Improve officer safety and wellness ▫ 16 major issue areas identified at inaugural meeting last July (gunfire, traffic, physical and mental health)

• January meeting attended by AG Holder and focused on firearmsrelated threats • April 25 meeting focused on traffic safety

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VALOR • A response to the increase in ambush-style assaults • Includes on-site regional trainings, internet-based training, interviews with officers and offenders, resource materials, etc. ▫ Register at www.valorforblue.org/Home/Events

• Goal: Prevent violence against officers and ensure officer resilience and survivability following violent encounters

• NLEOMF a VALOR partner—community outreach

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Law Enforcement Officer Fatalities: 2011 v. 2012 (as of May 14, 2012)

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2012

2011

% Change

Total Fatalities

40

73

-45%

Firearms-related

15

33

-55%

Traffic-related

14

23

-39%

Other Causes

11

17

-35%

National Law Enforcement Museum

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For More Information

Craig W. Floyd National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (202) 737-3400 [email protected] www.LawMemorial.org www.LawEnforcementMuseum.org

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