FBI: Law Enforcement Officer Deaths Drop 17% in 2025 but Assaults Hit Record High

The number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty dropped 17.2% in 2025 compared with the prior year, though nonfatal assaults against police have risen since 2021, according to FBI data released Monday.

In 2025, 53 officers died in felony acts. All but 10 of those deaths came from gunshot wounds. That compares with 64 officers feloniously killed in 2024.

Most of the officers killed in 2025 were White males. The majority of the incidents occurred in the South, the region with the largest number of police officers and the biggest population among those covered in the FBI study.

The number of officer deaths fell by 11 in 2025. Even so, felonious killings have trended upward since 2021. The FBI noted 258 such deaths from 2021 through 2024, more than in any other four-year span.

The peak came in 2021, with 71 officers killed in the line of duty.

"In 2025, officers were assaulted at a rate of 13.8 assaults per 100 officers, which is the highest assault rate in the past 10 years," the report stated. It added that 445 officers were assaulted and injured by firearms that year.