11 2.3%
MENTALLY ILL 9 1.9%
TRAFFIC PURSUIT AND STOPS 87 18.5%
Felony vehicle stop 30 34.5%
Traffic violation stop 57 65.5%
Tactical situation (barricaded offender, hostage taking, high risk entry, etc.)
29 6.2%
TOTAL 471 100.0%
Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002-2010.
16 Time and Distance
Another factor examined by various researchers relating to police killings or assaults includes the month, day, and time of an incident (Moorman and Wemmer, 1983; Chapman, 1986; Boylen & Little, 1990), and the distance between the victim officer and the perpetrator (Margarita, 1980; Chapman, 1986).
The FBI’s uniform crime report of officers feloniously killed and assaulted during the periods of 2002 through 2010 indicates that the months during which the greatest number of law enforcement officers feloniously killed were August (11.0%) followed by March (9.3%) and December (9.1%) (FBI, 2010) (See Figure 3). The months with the least number of law enforcement officers feloniously killed were October (5.5%) and November (6.2%) (FBI, 2010) (See Figure 3).
Percentage Distributions by Month of Incident
Figure 3
Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002-2010.
17
Percentage Distributions by Day of Incidents
Figure 4. Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002-2010.
Percentage Distributions by Time of Incident
Figure 5. Note: Time was not reported for 0.2 percent of all law enforcement officers feloniously killed. Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002-2010.
18
The days on which law enforcement officers are more likely to be killed are Thursday (18.3%) followed by Saturday (16.6%) (FBI, 2010) while the day with the least number of law enforcement officers killed is Sunday, which accounted for approximately 11% of the total officers feloniously killed during the periods of 2002 to 2010 (FBI, 2010) (See Figure 4).
Further analysis using the FBI’s uniform crime report of officers feloniously killed and assaulted during the periods of 2002 through 2010 suggests that the time of day that law enforcement officers are more likely to be killed is between 4:01 p.m. to midnight (42%) and the least likely time an officer would be killed is between 12:01 a.m. and 8 a.m. (FBI, 2010) (See Figure 5). Another analysis using the FBI’s uniform crime report of officers feloniously killed and assaulted during the periods of 2002 through 2010 suggests that the distance in which a victim officer is more likely to be killed by a perpetrator using a firearm is between 0 and 5 feet (48.9%) and the distance in which the least number of victim officers killed by a perpetrator using a firearm is over 50 feet (5.9%) (FBI, 2010).
19 Table 3
Distance between Victim Officer and Offender
Number Percent
Distance Total 437
0-5 feet 214 48.90%
6-10 feet 75 17.10%
11-20 feet 64 14.60%
21-50 feet 32 7.30%
over 50 feet 26 5.90%
Not reported 28 6.40%
Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002-2010.
Weapons Used
A factor associated with police killings and assaults is the type of weapons used and the caliber of ammunition. According to the FBI’s uniform crime report of law enforcement officers feloniously killed during the periods of 2002 through 2010, 93% of police killings were committed using firearms: 67% handguns, 19% rifles, and 7% shotguns (FBI, 2010) (See Figure 6). Another analysis using the FBI’s uniform crime report of law enforcement officers feloniously killed and assaulted during the periods of 2002 through 2010 indicated the nine millimeter handgun (24.7%) and the .40-caliber handgun (20.2%) as the two most-used handguns in police killings (FBI, 2010) (See Table 4).
20 Weapon Type: Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed
Figure 6
Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002-2010
Further analysis using the FBI’s uniform crime report of law enforcement officers feloniously killed during the periods of 2002 through 2010, indicates that the 7.62x39 millimeter rifle (42.2%) followed by the .223 caliber rifle (13.6%) were the two most used rifles in police killing while the most used shotgun was the 12 gauge shotgun (87.5%) (FBI, 2010) (See Table 5).
21 Table 4
Type of Firearm and Size of Ammunition, Handguns
Type of Firearm and Size of ammunition Number Percent Handgun
Total 316
.22 Caliber 12 0.03%
.22 Magnum 1 0.03%
.25 Caliber 5 1.60%
.32 Caliber 6 1.90%
.357 Caliber 16 5.10%
.357 Magnum 10 3.20%
.38 Caliber 39 12.30%
.380 Caliber 29 9.20%
.40 Caliber 64 20.20%
.41 Magnum 1 0.03%
.44 Caliber 7 2.20%
.44 Magnum 2 0.06%
.45 Caliber 35 11.10%
.50 Caliber 1 0.03%
7.62 x 25 Millimeter 1 0.03%
9 Millimeter 78 24.70%
10 Millimeter 3 0.09%
Not Reported 8 2.50%
Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaualted, 2002-2010
22 Table 5
Type of Firearm and Size of Ammunition, Other
Rifle Total 88
7.62x39 Millimeter 38 43.2%
9 Millimeter 2 2.3%
Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002-2010
23 The FBI’s uniform crime report of officers feloniously killed and assaulted during the periods of 2002 through 2010 indicates that there were 198 officers feloniously killed by handguns while wearing body armor. Of those 198 law enforcement officers killed, 48 were killed with a nine millimeter handgun (FBI, 2010) (See Table 6). In another analysis of the same data, 62 officers were
feloniously killed by a rifle while wearing body armor. Of those 62 killed, 20 were killed with a 7.62x39 millimeter rifle while wearing body armor (FBI, 2010) (See Table 6). Furthermore, 25 officers were feloniously killed by shotguns. Of those 25 law enforcement officers killed, 22 were killed by a 12-gauge shotgun (FBI, 2010) (See Table 6). Further analysis of the FBI’s uniform crime report data indicates that there were 20 victim officers killed with firearms, due to the bullet penetrating through the body armor (FBI, 2010) (See Table 7). Of those, one was by a handgun and 19 were killed by a rifle (FBI, 2010) (See Table 7).
Officer Characteristics
Other factors related to police killing include officer characteristics such as age, sex, race, years of service, wearing uniform, and wearing body armor (Table 8).
Most officers killed between 2002 and 2010 were White (83.6%) and male (94.8%), and between the ages of 31 and 40 (45.4%) and the average number of years in
service was 10.5 (FBI, 2010). Seventy-eight percent of officers killed were in uniform at the time of their deaths and 91% wore a body armor vest when killed (FBI, 2010).
Law enforcement officers get killed in the line of duty regardless of their characteristics (e.g. age, sex, race, and years of service).
24 Table 6
Wearing Body Armor: Type of Firearm and Size of Ammunition
Type of firearm Size of ammunition Total 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Number of victim
Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaualted, 2002-2010.
25
Table 7
Type of Firearm and Size of Ammunition: Penetrating Victim Officers Body Armor
Type of
Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaualted, 2002-2010.
26 Table 8
Profile of Victim Officers
VICTIM OFFICERS NUMBER PERCENT
AGE
Average years of service 10.5
Less than 1 years of service 9 1.9%
Wearing protective body armor 278 59.0%
Not wearing protective body armor/unknown 29 9.0%
Source: FBI, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002-2010.