Ten Most Dangerous States to Be a Cop

Highlights

A total of 984 police officers in the U.S. were killed on the job over a 10-year period.

60,000 police officers were assaulted in 2020.

Author

Article

There are lists for everything. One of the most popular pages on Crime In America is a list of the most dangerous cities, states, and countries.

24/7 Wall St. (described below) has refined list-making to an art. The article below lists the “Most Dangerous States To Be A Police Officer.” We list the top ten states with permission and provide a link to the rest.

They also offer the “States With the Most Police Officers.”

Context-Background

There have been over 32,000 police officers’ deaths since 1786 with some of the highest numbers coming in 2020 (373) and 2021 (472) per the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, many due to the effects of COVID.

The number of law enforcement professionals nationwide who died in the line of duty in the first half of 2022 decreased 31% over the same time period in the previous year, according to preliminary data provided by the Fund.

Texas has experienced the largest number of law enforcement officer fatalities of all U.S. states so far this year, with 25 line-of-duty deaths.

• California has the second highest number with 10 officer deaths.
• Alabama has the third highest number with 8 officer deaths.
• Tennessee and New York have the fourth highest number with 6 officer deaths each.
• Missouri has the sixth highest number with 5 officer deaths.
• In addition, 6 federal officers and 1 tribal officer have died in the line of duty so far this year. 18 states and the District of Columbia have not lost an officer so far this year.

Assaults

Nationally, 60,105 law enforcement officers were assaulted while performing their duties in 2020. These assaults were reported to the FBI by 9,895 law enforcement agencies. Based on these reports, there were 4,071 more officers assaulted in 2020 than the 56,034 assaults reported in 2019.

What Is 24/7 Wall St.?

24/7 Wall St., LLC is a Delaware corporation that runs a financial news and opinion company with content delivered over the Internet. The company’s articles are republished by many of the largest news sites and portals, including MSN MarketWatch, USAToday, AOL, and newspaper and broadcast sites across America.

The company publishes over 30 articles per day and has readers throughout North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

24/7 Wall St.-MostDangerous States To Be A Police Officer

According to data compiled by the FBI, a total of 984 police officers in the U.S. were killed on the job over the 10-year period from 2012 to 2021. Just under half of those deaths – 480 – were accidental, often a case of officers on foot being struck by a moving vehicle or dying in a car crash.

The remaining 504 officers, however, were killed feloniously. The circumstances of these deaths range from unprovoked attacks and ambushes to domestic violence calls or active shooter situations in which they become victims themselves.

These statistics serve as a reminder that the hundreds of thousands of men and women who work in law enforcement put their lives on the line each time they put on their uniform. Police in some states, however, are statistically at higher risk than others.

Using FBI data on police officer fatalities and employment, 24/7 Wall St. identified the most dangerous states to be a cop. States are ranked by the police officer fatality rate – or the number of officers killed on duty between 2012 and 2021 for every 100,000 police officers serving in 2021.

In three states – South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming – there were no reported police officer deaths in the last 10 years, either accidental or felonious. In the remaining states, the police fatality rate ranges from 34 deaths to as many as 645 per 100,000 officers.

Of the last 10 years, 2021 was the deadliest for police officers in the United States. That year, a total of 124 officers were killed while on duty, and the majority of them – 56% – were killed feloniously.

The Top Ten

1. Mississippi
> Police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 645 per 100,000 police officers (29 total)
> Accidental police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 16 – 55.2% of total
> Felonious police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 13 – 44.8% of total
> Total police officers in 2021: 4,494

2. Louisiana
> Police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 460 per 100,000 police officers (47 total)
> Accidental police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 21 – 44.7% of total
> Felonious police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 26 – 55.3% of total
> Total police officers in 2021: 10,211

3. Illinois
> Police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 355 per 100,000 police officers (33 total)
> Accidental police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 19 – 57.6% of total
> Felonious police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 14 – 42.4% of total
> Total police officers in 2021: 9,301

4. New Mexico
> Police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 346 per 100,000 police officers (11 total)
> Accidental police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 5 – 45.5% of total
> Felonious police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 6 – 54.5% of total
> Total police officers in 2021: 3,181

5. Indiana
> Police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 326 per 100,000 police officers (15 total)
> Accidental police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 5 – 33.3% of total
> Felonious police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 10 – 66.7% of total
> Total police officers in 2021: 4,606

6. Alaska
> Police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 308 per 100,000 police officers (4 total)
> Accidental police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 1 – 25.0% of total
> Felonious police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 3 – 75.0% of total
> Total police officers in 2021: 1,297

7. Arkansas
> Police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 280 per 100,000 police officers (19 total)
> Accidental police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 8 – 42.1% of total
> Felonious police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 11 – 57.9% of total
> Total police officers in 2021: 6,788

8. South Carolina
> Police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 254 per 100,000 police officers (27 total)
> Accidental police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 17 – 63.0% of total
> Felonious police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 10 – 37.0% of total
> Total police officers in 2021: 10,642

9. Ohio
> Police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 238 per 100,000 police officers (26 total)
> Accidental police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 10 – 38.5% of total
> Felonious police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 16 – 61.5% of total
> Total police officers in 2021: 10,922

10. Arizona
> Police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 237 per 100,000 police officers (30 total)
> Accidental police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 14 – 46.7% of total
> Felonious police officer deaths; 2012-2021: 16 – 53.3% of total
> Total police officers in 2021: 12,652

Click here to see the most dangerous states police officers.

Notes

The numbers from 24/7 Wall Street are based on rates of officers accidentally or feloniously killed over a ten-year period which means that raw numbers of officers could matter as to outcomes. Most of the numbers of police officers from the states cited in this article are rather small compared to the 36,000 officers in New York City, or large numbers in other cities.  Rates of officers per population could also have an impact on outcomes as well as urban locations.

Not all police agencies report their data to the FBI thus FBI based figures could be undercounts or incomplete and may skew results. I’m aware that approximately 34 percent of law enforcement agencies are not currently participating in the FBI’s new National Incident-Based Reporting System (an improved method of collecting crime data). I’m unaware if state-reported law enforcement officer deaths mimic the 34 percent not reporting crime data.

Some sources used for this article count COVID officer deaths, some do not.

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