An official website of the United States government. Here's how you know
Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Federal Bureau of Investigation
Home • LEOKA • 2018-old • Tables • Table 67

Table 67

Law Enforcement Officers Accidentally Killed

Type of Accident by Type of Assignment, 2014–20181

Circumstance Total Two-officer
patrol 		One-
officer
patrol 		Investigative/
detective 		Tactical
assignment
(uniformed) 		Plainclothes
assignment 		Special
assignment 		Undercover Court/
prisoner
security 		Other 2 Off
duty
Alone Assisted Alone Assisted Alone Assisted Alone Assisted Alone Assisted Alone Assisted Alone Assisted Alone Assisted
Number of victim officers Total 241 21 114 34 4 1 0 1 2 1 8 17 0 1 1 0 8 16 12
Aircraft crash Total 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Equipment failure or malfunction 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Pilot error 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Inconclusive after investigation, ongoing investigation, etc. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Drowning Total 9 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Safety equipment used (flotation
device, scuba equipment, etc.)		 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
No safety equipment used 6 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Safety equipment usage not reported 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fall Total 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Safety equipment used (fall
protection/harness, helmet, etc.)		 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No safety equipment used 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Safety equipment usage not reported 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Firearm-related incident Total 9 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0
Accidental discharge while
cleaning weapon		 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Crossfire 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mistaken for offender 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Training mishap 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Other accidental discharge 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Other 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Motor vehicle crash
(car/SUV/truck/van) 		Total 142 14 85 14 3 0 0 0 2 1 5 3 0 0 0 0 6 4 5
Wearing seatbelt 65 5 40 5 3 0 0 0 2 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 3
Not wearing seatbelt 3 60 7 34 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 4 2 2
Seatbelt usage not reported 17 2 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Motor vehicle crash
(ATV/motorcycle) 		Total 28 0 13 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 1 0 1 2 2
Wearing helmet 26 0 13 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 1 2 1
Not wearing helmet 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Helmet usage not reported 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Motor vehicle crash
(watercraft) 		Total 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pedestrian officer struck
by vehicle 		Total 40 3 12 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 4
Wearing high-visibility clothing 12 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Not wearing high-visibility clothing 4 23 0 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 4
High-visibility clothing not reported 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Other accidental Total 5 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
  • 1Ten years of data for the topics presented in this table are not available at this time. A 10-year table is expected to be available for the publication of 2020 data.
  • 2Includes officers on overtime/extra duty activities and other types of assignments not listed.
  • 3Of the 60 victim officers who were fatally injured in motor vehicle crashes and were not wearing seatbelts, 5 were seated in parked motor vehicles at the time of the accidents.
  • 4The lighting conditions were dark at the time 8 of the 23 victim officers who were not wearing high-visibility clothing were fatally struck by vehicles.