The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund indicates police deaths neared a 50-year low during President Donald Trump’s first year in office.
The decline comes after 2016, a year which “saw more deaths than in the five previous years.” Breitbart News reported that the number of officers “feloniously killed” in 2016 jumped 61 percent over the number killed in that fashion in 2015.
USA Today reports that preliminary numbers for 2017 show 128 deaths in line of duty, which represents nearly a 50-year low. The only year with fewer officer deaths during the last five decades was 2013. There were 116 officer deaths that year.
The largest number of line of duty deaths, 47, were the result of traffic accidents. This is a 15 percent decline from 2016. Texas led the nation in the number of officers killed, followed by Florida and New York.
The 128 overall line of duty deaths for 2017 is down from the 143 line of duty deaths for 2016.
Blue Lives Matter’s Randy Sutton believes the overall decline in officer deaths is the result of a greater awareness for officer safety. He indicated that this focus on safety “[includes] a change in how officers approach arrests because of the controversial high-profile shootings over the years.” Officers are seemingly more cognizant of potential dangers and approach (or avoid) dangerous situations accordingly.
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund President and Chief Executive Craig Floyd says, “In my 33 years doing this, I’ve never seen the amount of awareness given to officer safety and wellness. I think that’s definitely been paying off and will continue to help make law enforcement a significantly safer profession.”
On December 26, Breitbart News reported that President Trump personally paid for hundreds of dinners for law enforcement officers and agents who had to work over the Christmas holiday. CNN’s Noah Gray indicated members of the Secret Service, the White House Military Office, and the Palm Beach Sheriff Department were among those fed with the meals.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.