Law enforcement deaths fall in ’08

WASHINGTON -- Fewer law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2008 compared with last year, reflecting better training and tactics, two law enforcement support groups reported Sunday.

The findings reversed the trend for 2007, when there was a spike in officer deaths, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and another group, Concerns of Police Survivors.

The groups reported fatalities through Sunday.

Officer deaths this year totaled 140, compared with 181 last year.

Gunfire deaths dropped to 41 officers this year, compared with 68 last year. The 2008 number represented the lowest total since 1956 -- when there were 35 -- and was far below the peak of 156 officers killed by gunfire in 1973.

Traffic-related deaths also declined, with 71 officers killed this year, compared with 83 last year. It was the 11th consecutive year that more officers were killed in traffic incidents than from any other cause.

More than 61 percent of this year's fatalities involved accidents, and 39 percent resulted from criminal acts.

The only downside was deaths of female officers: 15 this year compared with six last year.

More female officers are in harm's way, the groups said, because they're taking on the same dangerous assignments as men.

Craig Floyd, chairman of the Memorial Fund, said officers are getting better training and equipment.

More than 70 percent of officers use bullet-resistant vests compared with fewer than half a decade ago, he said.

And officers are making better use of Taser stun guns and other nonlethal weapons that keep them a safe distance from violent offenders, he said.

To avoid traffic deaths, officers are better trained in high-speed and defensive driving techniques.

Police vehicles now have better safety equipment, including side air bags and a substance installed near the fuel tank to suppress fire when the vehicle is struck.

The states with the most officer deaths were Texas with 14, followed by California with 12, then Florida and Pennsylvania with eight each.

One Nevada law enforcement officer died in the line of duty this year.

Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Kara Kelly-Borgognone, the first female law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty in Nevada, was critically injured in an automobile accident Feb. 25 in Reno. Her patrol car was rammed while she was en route to a bomb scare.

She remained on life support and died three days later. She was 33.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal contributed to this report.