Federal Officers Killed and Assaulted

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This page provides information regarding federal law enforcement officers who were killed or assaulted in the line of duty in 2012 and who met the appropriate criteria.

Overview

In 2012, 1 officer with the U.S. Department of the Interior was killed in the line of duty. In addition, 1,857 federal law enforcement officers were assaulted. Of these officers, 206 were injured. By department:

• The U.S. Capitol Police employed 4 officers who were assaulted, and of these, 1 officer was injured.
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security employed 658 of the federal officers who were assaulted, and 20 of these officers were injured.
• In addition to the officer who was killed in the line of duty, the U.S. Department of the Interior employed 861 of the officers who were assaulted, and 151 of these officers were injured.
• The U.S. Department of Justice employed 329 of the officers who were assaulted, and 32 of these officers were injured.
• The U.S. Department of the Treasury employed 2 officers who were assaulted, and both suffered injuries.
• The U.S. Postal Inspection Service employed 4 of the officers who were assaulted in 2012, but none of these officers were injured.

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 74, 75, 76, and 77.

See also the summaries of Assaults by Department.

Weapons

• 733 federal officers were attacked with personal weapons such as hands, fists, or feet, and 125 of these assaults resulted in injuries to the officers.
• 104 officers were assaulted with firearms resulting in 1 officer being killed and 7 officers being injured.
• 104 federal officers were assaulted with vehicles, and of these, 7 officers suffered injuries.
• 38 officers were attacked with blunt instruments resulting in 5 officers being injured.
• 33 officers were assaulted with knives or other cutting instruments, and 3 of these officers suffered injuries.
• 16 officers were involved in bomb-related incidents; none were injured.
• 830 officers were assaulted with various other types of weapons resulting in 59 officers being injured.

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 77, 78, 79, and 80.

Type of activity

• 811 of the federal officers assaulted in 2012 were on patrol or guard duty when they were assaulted.
• 620 officers were assaulted while attempting arrests or serving summonses.
• 272 officers were attacked while conducting investigations or searches.
• 48 officers were assaulted while maintaining custody of prisoners.
• 25 officers were assaulted while on court duty.
• 25 officers were on protection duty at the time of the attacks.
• 3 officers were assigned to office duty when they were assaulted.
• 54 officers were assigned to other duties when assaulted.

More information about this topic is provided in Table 81.

Regional and outlying area breakdowns

Of the federal law enforcement officers who were assaulted in 2012:

• 754 officers were stationed in the West.
• 598 officers were stationed in the South.
• 445 officers were stationed in the Midwest.
• 44 officers were stationed in the Northeast.
• 11 officers were stationed in Puerto Rico.
• 2 officers were stationed in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• 1 officer was stationed in Guam.
• 3 officers were stationed in Mexico.

More information about this topic is provided in Table 79.

Dispositional information

• 1,215 alleged assailants were identified in connection with the 1,858 assaults on federal officers.
• Of the 1,215 offenders, dispositional information was reported for 737 of them.
• At the time of this report, the following dispositional information was available for 737 of the suspects:
  • 476 were found guilty, and 4 were found not guilty or the charges were dismissed.
  • 204 of the offenders were awaiting trial.
  • 24 offenders’ prosecutions were declined.
  • 17 offenders’ cases were pending prosecutive opinion.
  • 7 offenders are deceased.
  • 3 offenders remained fugitives at the time of this report.
  • 2 offenders were found incompetent to stand trial.

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 74 and 82.

Five-year totals

From 2008 through 2012, there were 8,587 federal officers assaulted; 8 of these officers were killed.

• In four of the last five years, an officer employed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been killed in the line of duty. Of these officers:
  • 3 officers were employed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
  • 1 officer was with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
• Of the other 4 officers killed over the last five years:
  
  • 1 officer with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service was killed in 2012.
  • 2 officers employed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Marshals Service were killed in 2011.
  • 1 officer employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation was killed in 2008.

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 76, 77, and 78.