Texas was among the most deadly states for law enforcement officers this year. New numbers from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund show 144 local, state and federal police officers died in the line of duty in 2018. That was up from the year before. Eleven of those officers died in Texas, which ties it with with three other states – California, Florida and New York – for the largest number of officer deaths.
One aspect of the data was particularly notable: there was an increase in officer deaths from firearms. Craig Floyd is CEO of the officers memorial fund and says police departments have worked hard to prevent firearm-related deaths, and officer deaths in general, in recent years, but more still needs to be done.
“There’s been a lot of attention, more being done to prevent officer fatalities than I’ve ever seen in my 34 years in this job,” Floyd says. “[But] what you see is sometimes the odds catch up with you,” Floyd says.
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– How and why officer fatalities have actually decreased since the 1970s
– How the number of firearm-related officer deaths fluctuates from year to year
– How Texas often ranks at the top when it comes to officer fatalities
Written by Caroline Covington.