And therefore there’s no apparent statistical reason for increased police use of deadly force. U.S. police officers killed in the line of duty:
2001 – 241 (including 60 in the Sept. 11 attacks)
2002 – 157
2003 – 150
2004 – 165
2005 – 163
2006 – 156
2007 – 191
2008 – 147
2009 – 125
2010 – 161
2011 – 171
2012 – 122
2013 – 100
2014 – 113 (through Dec. 21)
(Data for 2001 – 2013 from National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund; data for 2014 from Officer Down Memorial Page)
Average per year during George W. Bush presidency: 171.25 (this number is 163.75 not counting the
Sept. 11 casualties)
Average per year during Barack Obama presidency: 132.6
The number of civilians killed by police is unknown, as there is no centralized reporting, but voluntary reports to the FBI by the nation’s nearly 18,000 police departments indicate this number is over 400 per year. Thus, several times as many citizens as police officers are killed in police-citizen confrontations. Of course, it goes without saying that any number is too many.