Wishing Everyone a Safer New Year!  
Preliminary data collected by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows 173 officers were killed in 2011 — up 13 percent from 153 line-of-duty deaths in 2010.  The "must read report" shows that for the first time in 14 years more officers were killed by firearms than by auto accidents.

Some additional facts from NLEOMF:

• Crime fighting has taken its toll. Since the first recorded police death in 1791, there have been over 19,000 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Currently, there are 19,298 names engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
  
• A total of 1,794 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past 10 years, an average of one death every 53 hours or 163 per year.
  
• On average, over the last decade, there have been 59,069 assaults against law enforcement each year, resulting in 16,041 injuries.

Last Update 01/02/2012