WASHINGTON (AP): More police officers died in the line of duty, in 2018, in the United States than in 2017.
That’s according to data compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
The organization said in a report on Thursday, Dec. 27, that 144 federal, state and local officers died in 2018. That’s up from the 129 who died in 2017.
The majority of the officers who died were shot or fatally injured in car crashes. Other deaths involved heart attacks, drownings and cancer and other illnesses developed by responders to the World Trade Center attack.
The officers who died include a sheriff’s deputy in Sacramento County, California killed in a shootout and a Greensboro, North Carolina police officer killed in a car crash while responding to a robbery call.