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 2017 and who met the appropriate criteria.

Overview

In 2017, no federal law enforcement officers were feloniously killed and a total of 1,784 federal officers were assaulted. Of the officers who were assaulted, 426 were reported as injured. (See Tables 71, 73, and 74.) By department:

• The U.S. Department of the Interior employed 724 of the officers who were assaulted; 124 of these officers were injured. (See Tables 71, 72, and 73.)

• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employed 687 of the federal officers who were assaulted, and 225 of these officers were injured. (See Tables 71, 72, and 73.)

• The U.S. Department of Justice employed 333 of the officers who were assaulted, and 66 of these officers were injured. (See Tables 71, 72, and 73.)

• The U.S. Department of Defense employed 23 of the officers who were assaulted, and 2 of these officers were injured. (See Tables 71, 72, and 73.)

• The U.S. Capitol Police employed 16 officers who were assaulted, and of these, 9 officers were injured. (See Tables 71, 72, and 73.)

• The U.S. Department of the Treasury employed 1 officer who was assaulted but not injured. (See Tables 71, 72, and 73.)

• No officers from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were assaulted in 2017. (See Tables 71, 72, and 73.)

See also the summaries of Assaults by Department.

Weapons (See Table 74.)

• 676 federal officers were assaulted with personal weapons such as hands, fists, or feet, and 248 officers were injured during these assaults.

• 142 federal officers were assaulted with vehicles; of these, 30 officers suffered injuries.

• 116 officers were assaulted with firearms, resulting in 8 officers being injured.

• 21 officers were assaulted with blunt instruments, resulting in 7 officers being injured.

• 19 officers were assaulted with knives or other cutting instruments, resulting in 1 officer being injured.

• 810 officers were assaulted with various other types of weapons, resulting in 132 officers being injured.

Type of activity (See Table 78.)

• 677 of the federal officers assaulted in 2017 were on patrol or guard duty when they were assaulted.

• 551 officers were assaulted while attempting arrests or serving summonses.

• 210 officers were assaulted while maintaining custody of prisoners.

• 177 officers were assaulted while conducting investigations or searches.

• 34 officers were assaulted while on court duty. 

• 18 officers were on protection duty at the time of the assaults.

• 11 officers were assigned to office duty when they were assaulted.

• 106 officers were assigned to other duties when assaulted.

Regional and outlying area breakdowns (See Table 76.)

Of the federal law enforcement officers who were assaulted in 2017:

• 801 officers were in the West.

• 570 officers were in the South.

• 278 officers were in the Midwest.

• 111 officers were in the Northeast.

• 8 officers were in Puerto Rico.

• 1 officer was in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

• The National Park Service did not provide location data for 15 of its victim officers who were assaulted with “other” weapons.

Dispositional information

• 604 alleged assailants were identified in connection with the 1,784 assaults on federal officers. (See Table 71.)

• Of the 604 offenders, dispositional information was reported for 373 of them. (See Table 79.)
• 208 were found guilty.
• 123 of the offenders were awaiting trial. 
• 16 offenders’ cases were pending prosecutive opinion. 
• 12 offenders’ prosecutions were declined. 
• 6 offenders were found not guilty or the charges were dismissed. 
• 6 offenders are deceased. 
• 1 offender remained a fugitive at the time the data was submitted to the FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program. 
• 1 offender was declared incompetent to stand trial.

Five-year totals

From 2013 through 2017, there were 7,755 federal officers assaulted; 6 of these officers were killed. (See Table 74.) 

• In the last five years, 3 officers employed by the U.S. Department of Justice have been killed in the line of duty. (See Table 73.) 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 3 officers killed over the last five years (see Table 73):
• 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. 
• 1 officer was with the U.S. Department of the Interior. The officer was employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was killed in 2013.