The rate of assaults on U.S. law enforcement reached a 10-year high in 2023, with more than 79,000 officer attacks reported. A new FBI report analyzes data from state, local, federal and other agencies to determine trends in violence against law enforcement. It shows that the number of officers assaulted and injured by guns is also climbing, the Associated Press reports. Agencies reported 466 assaults with firearms in 2023, the highest level in a decade. That’s up from fewer than 200 officers assaulted and injured by guns in 2014.
There were 60 officers killed in criminal acts last year, compared with 61 the year prior and 73 in 2021. That was more officer killings as the result of criminal acts than any other three-year period in the last two decades. Those killed between 2014 and 2023 had an average of 12 years of experience as a sworn officer. More than 230 officers were reported accidentally killed in the line of duty between 2019 and 2023. Most of them — 57% — died in vehicle crashes, and another 30% were hit by a vehicle.