In 2014, more police officers died as a result of their jobs than the previous year, reported the FBI. A total of 96 law enforcement officials were killed on the job and four dozen were killed while in the line of duty in felonious acts compared to 56 in 2010, according to AL.com.
The amount of officers who died in accidents decreased to 45 from 49 in 2013, according to the report. The number of officers who were victims of line-of-duty assaults decreased to 48,315 incidents last year from 49,851 in 2013, according to IBT. The average age of death of these officers was 39 years old. The average time serving on the force when these deaths occurred was 13 years.
California, New York and Texas had the highest number of officers killed in 2014, with five each, according to Myarklamiss. The FBI reported that 59 assailants were identified in 2014's 51 officer killings. Fifty of them had criminal records. People using vehicles as weapons caused the deaths of four of the officers, according to the FBI. One officer was reportedly beaten as well. Forty-six of the 51 slain officers were shot with firearms — 33 handguns, 10 rifles and three shotguns.
