Law enforcement death figures down from previous year

Ever wondered if the modern body armor used by our national police force is making a difference? Statistics from 2019 show that the number of U.S. law enforcement officers killed on duty has drastically declined. Policing experts report this is because more law enforcement professionals wear body armor when on active duty.

The F.B.I. has made an integral impact on safety awareness in its own right. In 2019, there was a 33% decrease in the number of officers who were killed while on duty. In 2018 there were 72 officers killed, however, in 2019 this was down to 48. Statistics show that firearms were used in the majority of these attacks.

In 2019 some police departments that received particular federal grants were mandated by the U.S. Department of Justice to utilize more body armor in 2019. This was a role call for virtually all law enforcement departments on the federal level across the U.S., as 92 percent of them made them a prerequisite for active officers by the end of 2019 (this is a large leap from a meager 59 percent of federal departments in the year 2017.) The use of body armor has continued to make an impact this year as well.

"There's been a sea change in the thinking on body armor at the state and federal level,” said Chuck Wexler, Executive Director of the Police Executive Research Forum. "In this case, policy made a difference," he continued.

Chuck Wexler, who has held his prominent position since 1993, leads an entire staff involved in policing research, consulting for police agencies, and management studies. Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is in large part the only hope for major cities facing difficulties with policing.