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Home LEOKA 2016 Federal

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 2016 and who met the appropriate criteria.

Overview

In 2016, a total of 1,447 federal law enforcement officers were assaulted. Of these officers, 1 was killed and 324 were non-fatally injured. (See Tables 123 and 126.) By department:

  • The U.S. Department of the Interior employed 621 of the officers who were assaulted; 117 of these officers were injured. (See Tables 123 and 125.) 
  • The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employed 503 of the federal officers who were assaulted, and 146 of these officers were injured. (See Tables 123 and 125.) 
  • The U.S. Department of Justice employed 298 of the officers who were assaulted, 1 of these officers was killed, and 57 were non-fatally injured. (See Tables 123 and 125.) 
  • The U.S. Capitol Police employed 25 officers who were assaulted, and of these, 4 officers were injured. (See Tables 123 and 125.) 
  • No officers from the U.S. Department of the Treasury or the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were assaulted in 2016. (See Tables 123 and 125.) 

See also the summaries of Assaults by Department.

Weapons (See Table 126.)

  • 622 federal officers were attacked with personal weapons such as hands, fists, or feet, and 201 of these assaults resulted in injuries to the officers. 
  • 104 officers were assaulted with firearms, resulting in 1 officer being killed and 10 officers being non-fatally injured. 
  • 99 federal officers were assaulted with vehicles; of these, 22 officers suffered injuries. 
  • 40 officers were assaulted with knives or other cutting instruments, resulting in 3 officers being injured. 
  • 26 officers were attacked with blunt instruments, resulting in 4 officers being injured. 
  • 556 officers were assaulted with various other types of weapons, resulting in 84 officers being injured. 

Type of activity (See Table 130.)

  • 654 of the federal officers assaulted in 2016 were on patrol or guard duty when they were assaulted. 
  • 395 officers were assaulted while attempting arrests or serving summonses. 
  • 182 officers were assaulted while conducting investigations or searches. 
  • 71 officers were assaulted while maintaining custody of prisoners. 
  • 30 officers were assigned to office duty when they were assaulted. 
  • 18 officers were assaulted while on court duty. 
  • 16 officers were on protection duty at the times of the attacks. 
  • 81 officers were assigned to other duties when assaulted. 

Regional and outlying area breakdowns (See Table 128.)

Of the federal law enforcement officers who were killed and assaulted in 2016:

  • 559 officers were in the West. 
  • 424 officers were in the South. 
  • 285 officers were in the Midwest. 
  • 63 officers were in the Northeast. 
  • 7 officers were in Puerto Rico. 
  • 1 officer was from Guam. 
  • 1 officer was in the U.S. Virgin Islands. 
  • Location data for 107 victim officers were not reported. 

Dispositional information

  • 1,201 alleged assailants were identified in connection with the 1,447 attacks on federal officers. (See Table 123.) 
  • Of the 1,201 offenders, dispositional information was reported for 341 of them. (See Table 131.) 
  • At the time of this report, the following dispositional information was available for the 341 suspects (see Table 131): 
    • 248 were found guilty, and 2 were found not guilty or the charges were dismissed. 
    • 54 of the offenders were awaiting trial. 
    • 14 offenders’ prosecutions were declined. 
    • 11 offenders’ cases were pending prosecutive opinion. 
    • 6 offenders remained fugitives. 
    • 5 offenders are deceased. 
    • 1 offender was declared incompetent to stand trial. 

Five-year totals

From 2012 through 2016, there were 7,829 federal officers reported as being assaulted; 7 of these officers were killed. (Based on Table 126.)

  • In the last five years, 3 officers employed by the U.S. Department of Justice have been killed in the line of duty. (Based on Table 125.) Of these officers: 
    • 2 officers were employed by the U.S. Marshals Service. One officer was killed in 2015 and another in 2016. 
    • 1 officer with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was killed in 2013. 
  • Of the other 4 officers killed over the last five years (see Table 125): 
    • 2 officers were with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Both were officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and were killed in 2013. 
    • 2 officers were with the U.S. Department of the Interior. One officer employed by the National Park Service was killed in 2012, and 1 officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs was killed in 2013.