In terms of in-the-line-of-duty deaths, U.S. law enforcement officers have not fared well in 2010 and 2011. After suffering in 2009 the fewest in-the-line-of-duty deaths since 1959 (116 versus 109), these deaths rose in 2010 by nearly 40 percent and have increased so far in 2011 an additional 7 percent over 2010. The year 2010 was the 13th consecutive year that traffic fatalities were the primary cause of officers’ deaths.

How are law enforcement officers dying in traffic incidents? Of the twenty-six troopers, deputies, and patrol officers killed during the first six months of 2011, six were struck and killed on highways, seven were killed while en route to calls for service or to back up other officers, five died when vehicles essentially collided head-on, three were killed during motorcycle escorts, three succumbed in crashes while not responding to any known activity, and two died during pursuits. One of the twenty-six was not wearing a seat belt, and another who was ejected in the crash may not have been wearing a seat belt.