LDN News - On-duty Officer Deaths

New report shows a 25% drop in deaths of on-duty law enforcement officers

[January 07, 2026] By CLAUDIA LAUER

Deaths of on-duty law enforcement officers in the U.S. decreased by nearly 25% in 2025, according to an annual report.

The report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, shared with The Associated Press ahead of its release Tuesday, shows a drop in all categories of fatalities, from 148 total deaths in 2024 to 111 last year.

Officer firearm fatalities dropped to 44, a 15% decrease from 52 in 2024 and the lowest number in at least a decade, according to the Fund's previous annual officer fatality reports.

“I always like to see that firearms deaths are down. They are the tip of the spear for egregious acts," said Bill Alexander, the chief executive officer of the Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that works to memorialize fallen officers, educate the public about the profession and improve officer safety.

Traffic-related deaths also decreased nearly 23% between 2024 and 2025, including both fatal traffic accidents and officers killed after being struck by a vehicle — usually during traffic stops.

“Even one officer fatality is too many, and our ultimate goal is to have none. But we’re heartened by any decrease in those numbers,” Alexander said.

Alexander said the reduction in traffic-related officer deaths likely can be attributed to an increase in the national conversation around officer safety on the road. More states around the country have passed “move-over” laws requiring drivers to move out of the lane closest to traffic stops or accidents while passing them. There have been increased efforts to direct officers to approach the passenger side of cars during traffic stops, removing them from travel lanes, Alexander said.

The reason behind the decrease in firearm fatalities is harder to define. While many departments have offered increased safety training and have better equipment for firearm injuries, Alexander said luck and other unquantifiable factors also play a role.

“Some of it could come down to an officer being shot close to a hospital or maybe the officers had a tactical emergency kit or better blood stopping equipment,” he said.

Fewer fatalities also doesn't mean fewer instances of officers being shot or being shot at, he said.

The National Fraternal Order of Police tracks the number of officer shootings, both fatal and non-fatal. That report does not include incidents where officers were shot at and not struck by gunfire.

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Officers wait for slain West York Borough Police Officer Andrew Duarte's funeral procession from Living Word Community Church, in Red Lion, Pa., Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The 2025 FOP report, released this week, showed there was a small increase in officers shot while on-duty last year — increasing from 342 in 2024 to 347 in 2025.

Among the high-profile shooting deaths in 2025 was Andrew Duarte, a West York Borough Police Department officer who was shot and killed in February while responding to a man who had taken several people hostage in a York, Pennsylvania hospital. And law enforcement officers from around the country attended funeral services Monday for Delaware State Trooper Matthew “Ty” Snook, who was shot and killed while he was working an overtime shift at a DMV office on Dec. 23, after pushing a DMV employee out of the way of the gunman.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's fatality report also showed no on-duty officer fatalities in 17 states and Washington D.C., and none at the nation's federal and tribal law enforcement agencies last year.

It also showed a 37% drop in the “other” fatalities category that includes physical or medical issues from on-duty incidents and most other fatalities like stabbings, drownings or plane crashes. The number dropped from 52 in 2024 to 33 in 2025, and includes 14 officers who died last year from illnesses related to responding to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Previous annual reports included COVID-19 deaths, which increased fatality numbers significantly in 2020 and 2021, but Alexander said COVID deaths have not been included as on-duty fatalities in the last two years. The report also does not include officers who committed suicide, though Alexander said the group is having conversations about how to honor and include those officers.

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