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Home LEOKA 2015 Detailed Assault Data

Detailed Assault Data

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The following information concerns duly sworn city, university and college, county, state, and tribal law enforcement officers who were assaulted and injured by firearms or knives/other cutting instruments in the line of duty in 2015. The law enforcement officers included in this report also met certain other criteria. At this time, federal officers are not included in these data. (For information about federal officers, see the Officers Feloniously Killed, Officers Accidentally Killed, and the Federal Officers Killed and Assaulted sections of this publication.)

While the FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program has collected aggregate assault data for more than 50 years, the program began collecting data for assaults with injury more recently. The data collection for these assault incidents is similar to the comprehensive data collected about law enforcement officers feloniously killed in the line of duty. However, the detailed assault with injury data reflect only a subset of the assault incidents reported to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The detailed assault data were introduced in the 2013 publication with only 1 year of data. For 2015, several tables with 5 years of detailed assault data are also presented. 

Overview 

  • In 2015, detailed information was received for 85 law enforcement officers who were injured with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments during assault incidents. (See Table 79.) 
  • Of the officers assaulted and injured with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments, 67 were employed by city police departments, including 31 who were members of law enforcement agencies in cities with 250,000 or more inhabitants. (See Table 80.) 
  • Detailed data in reference to line-of-duty assaults with injuries from firearms or knives/other cutting instruments were received from 25 states. (See Table 79.) 
  • By region, of the 85 incidents reported, 32 officers in the South were injured as a result of assaults with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments, 32 officers in the West, 12 officers in the Midwest, and 9 officers in the Northeast. (See Table 79.) 

Victim profile

  • The average age of the officers who were assaulted and injured by firearms or knives/other cutting instruments in 2015 was 38 years old. (See Table 92.) 
  • The officers’ average length of law enforcement service was 11 years. (See Table 92.) 
  • Of the officers who were injured with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments in 2015, 83 were male and 1 was female. Gender was not reported for 1 victim officer. (See Table 93.) 
  • By race, 69 officers were White, 8 were Black/African American, 3 were Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and 1 was American Indian/Alaska Native. Race was not reported for 4 officers. (See Table 93.) 

Circumstances (See Table 101.)

  • 19 officers were participating in tactical situations (barricaded offender, hostage taking, high-risk entry, etc.). 
  • 16 officers had responded to disturbance calls. 
  • 11 officers were involved in arrest situations. 
  • 10 officers were handling persons with mental illness. 
  • 9 officers were conducting traffic pursuits or stops. 
  • 7 officers were investigating suspicious persons or circumstances. 
  • 6 officers were conducting investigative activities (surveillances, searches, interviews, etc.). 
  • 3 officers were involved in ambush situations. 
  • 2 officers were injured in unprovoked attacks. 
  • 2 officers were injured during instances of civil disorder (mass disobedience, riots, etc.). 

Assignments (See Table 99.)

  • 55 officers were on assigned vehicle patrol when they were assaulted and injured with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments. 
  • 28 officers were assigned to other duties, such as detectives, officers on special assignments, undercover officers, or officers on other types of assignments not listed. 
  • 2 of the officers were off duty, but acting in an official capacity, at the time of the attacks. 
  • 73 on-duty officers were assisted at the time of the attacks. 
  • 10 on-duty officers were alone and unassisted at the time of the attacks. 

Weapons

  • 65 officers were assaulted and injured with firearms. Of these, 41 were injured with handguns. (See Table 106.) 
  • 2 officers were injured with their own weapons. (See Table 97.) 
  • 18 officers were injured with firearms when they were 0-5 feet from the offenders. (See Table 109.) 
  • 33 officers fired their own weapons. (See Table 96.) 
  • 33 officers did not use or attempt to use their own weapons during the incidents. (See Table 96.) 
  • 15 officers attempted to fire, but did not fire, their own weapons during the incidents. (See Table 96.) 

Uniforms, body armor, and holsters

  • 79 of the 85 officers injured in assaults by firearms or knives/other cutting instruments were wearing uniforms. (See Table 111.) 
  • 74 of the officers were wearing body armor. 70 of these officers were also wearing uniforms. (See Table 112.) 
  • 80 of the 85 victim officers were wearing holsters at the times of the incidents. (See Table 112.) 

Months, days, and times of incidents

  • More officers (12) were injured during assaults with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments that occurred in the month of March than in any other month in 2015. (See Table 87.) 
  • More officers (18) were injured with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments in assaults that occurred on Thursday than on any other day of the week. (See Table 84.) 
  • 48 officers were injured with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments in assaults that happened between 12:01 p.m. and midnight. (See Table 85.) 
  • 37 officers were injured with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments in assaults that happened between 12:01 a.m. and noon. (See Table 85.) 

Profile of alleged known assailants

In 2015, 70 alleged offenders were identified in connection with the law enforcement officers assaulted and injured with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments. (See Table 116.) Of those offenders, the following characteristics are known: 

  • The average age of the alleged offenders was 33 years old. (See Table 117.) 
  • 63 of the alleged offenders were male, and 7 were female. (See Table 118.) 
  • 35 of the alleged offenders were White, 28 were Black/African American, 4 were Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and 1 was American Indian/Alaska Native. Race was not reported for 2 of the alleged offenders. (See Table 118.) 
  • 51 of the alleged offenders had prior criminal arrests. (See Table 122.) 
  • 15 of the alleged offenders were under judicial supervision at the time of the incidents. (See Table 121.) 
  • 26 of the alleged offenders were under the influence of alcohol and/or a controlled substance(s) at the time of the incidents. (Based on Table 121.) 

Information about officers assaulted and injured with firearms or knives/other cutting instruments can be found in Tables 79-122.