Police Officer Fatalities On The Rise
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police officer fatalities seem to be on the rise across the nation.
According to the latest figures from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 2011 was one of the deadliest years for US Law Enforcement:
"We saw some troubling figures. First and foremost, fatalities are up 13 percent over 2010, with 173 overall fatalities so far in 2011," says Senior Director of Communications and Marketing Steve Groeniger.
He also says that this year was the first year since the fund began recording fatalities that gun deaths outpaced motor vehicle deaths as the number one type of fatality for officers in the line of duty.
"The most troublesome of the data is really the 15 percent increase is firearms-related fatalities, which are at 68 as of right now for 2011," Groeniger says.
Pennsylvania had the 8th highest amount of officer fatalities at four. None of those were in the immediate Philadelphia area.
