In 2023, the number of attacks on American law enforcement officers reached the highest level in a decade, with over 79,000 assaults reported, according to a new FBI report released on Tuesday.
The report examines data from various agencies throughout the U.S. to track patterns in violence against law enforcement. It indicates a rising trend in officers being assaulted and injured by firearms.
FBI officials noted that there were 466 assaults involving firearms in 2023, the highest in ten years, up from less than 200 such incidents in 2014.
FBI members talk to each other (Via Curtis Heard/Shutterstock)
In 2023, criminal acts resulted in the deaths of 60 officers, a slight decrease from 61 in the previous year and 73 in 2021. Despite this decline over the past three years, FBI officials pointed out that more officers were killed in criminal incidents during this period than in any other three-year span in the last twenty years.
According to the report, officers killed between 2014 and 2023 typically had around 12 years of experience as sworn officers.
Between 2019 and 2023, over 230 officers were reported to have died accidentally while on duty. The majority of these deaths (57%) were due to vehicle crashes, while 30% occurred when officers were struck by vehicles.
