Police officer deaths increase in 2014

Washington – Fatalities among law enforcement officers increased by 24 percent in 2014, according to a preliminary report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Officers killed in the line of duty last year totaled 126, compared with 102 in 2013. The fatality figure is the highest since 2011.

Fifty officers were killed by gunfire in 2014, which marked a 56 percent increase from the previous year, NLEOMF said. Fifteen of those officers were killed in ambush-style attacks, including the shooting of New York City police officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos as they sat in their patrol car on Dec. 20.

The second leading cause of law enforcement fatalities in 2014 was traffic-related incidents, which killed 49 officers. Thirty-five of those officers were killed in car crashes, nine were struck outside of their vehicle and five were killed in motorcycle crashes.

The average age of a slain officer in 2014 was 41 years old.