Baltimore – Report: Police Deaths In US Up Slightly In 2015

Baltimore – The number of law enforcement officers killed by guns dropped 14 percent this year, but all line-of-duty police deaths rose slightly.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said in a report Tuesday that 42 officers were killed this year by gunfire, compared with 49 last year.

The report says seven of those shooting deaths occurred during traffic stops.

A total of 124 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial officers were killed in 2015, a 4 percent increase over 2014. Fifty-two officers were killed in traffic incidents this year, compared with 49 in 2014.

The report comes amid a national debate about police conduct and law enforcement’s treatment of black men, including 25-year-old Freddie Gray. Gray died in Baltimore in April from injuries received in the back of a police transport van.