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Law Enforcement Officers Killed in the Line of Duty: Contextual and Situational Factors Relating to Body Armor

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Abstract

Using the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program (LEOKA), this article examines law enforcement officers feloniously killed in the line of duty from 2002–2017 in which 821 officers were feloniously killed. Through an analysis of contextual and situational factors of the officer’s fatality, this article explores the extent to which body armor impacts the manner in which an officer is feloniously killed. Prior research has not sufficiently explored the effectiveness of body armor usage to reduce the risk of death of felonious killings. Results indicate that LEOs killed not wearing body armor were no more likely to suffer their fatality from somewhere besides their head compared to officers who were wearing body armor. Although there was no statistically significant difference, body armor and protective gear are a crucial part of an officer's work which has been further heightened during this recent era of social, political and civil unrest. The need for better protection for police officers needs to be prioritized.

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Notes

  1. Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program, Crime Statistics Management, Federal Bureau of Investigation, https://ucr.fbi.gov/leoka.

  2. The Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program did not begin collecting information on the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity until 2011. From 2011–2017, 47 Hispanic/Latino officers were feloniously killed.

  3. The Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program did not begin collecting information on the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity until 2011. From 2011–2017, 47 Hispanic/Latino officers were feloniously killed.

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Acknowledgements

On June 17, 2021, Officer Joe Burson of the Holly Springs, GA, Police Department was killed in the line of duty. Joe was a student of mine (first author) and recently graduated from Kennesaw State University. While we professors write articles that are our expertise, I never thought I would be co-authoring an article and making page proof edits on LEOs killed in the line of duty while one of mine was feloniously killed. I will not stop working on this and even solidified my passion for the police profession. Officer Joe Burson: While you are a fallen hero, your life mattered and you will never be forgotten.

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The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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  1. Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA

    Rebecca D. Petersen & Aimee Ouellet

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  1. Rebecca D. Petersen
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  2. Aimee Ouellet
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Correspondence to Rebecca D. Petersen.

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Petersen, R.D., Ouellet, A. Law Enforcement Officers Killed in the Line of Duty: Contextual and Situational Factors Relating to Body Armor. Am J Crim Just 48, 218–232 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-021-09622-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-021-09622-z

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