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Home • LEOKA • 2019 • Tables • Table 67

Table 67

Law Enforcement Officers Accidentally Killed

Type of Accident by Type of Assignment, 2015–2019 1

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 236 19 108 34 4 1 0 1 2 1 11 19 0 2 1 0 10 13 10
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 10 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 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 5 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Safety equipment usage unknown 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Safety equipment usage not reported 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 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 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 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 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mistaken for offender 2 1 0 0 0 0 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 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 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 132 9 83 13 3 0 0 0 2 1 5 2 0 1 0 0 7 3 3
Wearing seatbelt 60 3 39 4 3 0 0 0 2 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 2
Not wearing seatbelt3 56 4 33 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 5 2 1
Seatbelt usage not reported 16 2 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Motor vehicle crash
(ATV/motorcycle) 		Total 23 0 8 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 1 0 1 2 2
Wearing helmet 21 0 8 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 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 50 6 13 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 2 3 4
Wearing high-visibility clothing 13 2 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Not wearing high-visibility clothing4 32 2 9 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 4
High-visibility clothing not reported 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Other accidental Total 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 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 56 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 9 of the 32 victim officers who were not wearing high-visibility clothing were fatally struck by vehicles.