The Cincinnati Enquirer

There were 159 law enforcement officers who lost their lives in 1997. That's 37 percent more than in 1996 and 5 percent higher than the average 151 police fatalities in the 1990s.

Almost half - 70 - of the officers killed were shot. Sixty-one died in traffic accidents, were hit by vehicles or wrecked motorcycles. The others succumbed to job-related illnesses, falls, knifings, aircraft accidents, strangulation, bombings and train accidents.

In 10 incidents, more than one officer died. Of all police fatalities, three were women.

California was the deadliest state for officers last year, with 14 police fatalities. Texas followed with 10; Illinois, 9; Florida, 8; and Indiana and Georgia, 7 each. In Ohio, 6 officers died; in Kentucky, 2.

Since the first recorded police death in 1794, more than 14,000 officers have died in the line of duty.

In 1995, the most recent year statistics were available, 56,686 officers (of a total of about 420,000) survived assaults nationwide. That's down 30 percent from a high of 81,252 in 1992 and down almost 12 percent from 64,259 a decade ago.

Source: The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and FBI Uniform Crime Reports.

Today's report

Colleagues praise officer's quick action
Sequence of events
A determined, caring officer
Gunman 'never talked bad about police'
Police attacks less frequent, more deadly

Tuesday's report

Officer shot; suspect dead
Audio and transcipt of police radio calls