Felonious line-of-duty officer deaths (1995–2015): The impact of tenure and age revisited
| Author | Andrew Eckerley,Megan C Stewart,David Lilley,Donna L Selman,Kasey Tucker-Gail |
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557211032608 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
Felonious line-of-duty officer deaths
(1995–2015): The impact of tenure
and age revisited
Kasey Tucker-Gail
University of Toledo, USA
Andrew Eckerley
Tennessee Department of General Services, USA
Donna L Selman
Indiana State University, USA
David Lilley
University of Toledo, USA
Megan C Stewart
University of Toledo, USA
Abstract
The purpose of this article was to reassess patterns previously identified in the Federal Bureau o f Investigation’sLaw
Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) data, expanding the time frame from 5 years to 20 years, for
application within law enforcement when considering training needs over the life cycle of an officer’scareer.
Consistent with the findings of the earlier analysis, this study identifies two prevalent patterns: the age range with
the highest frequency of death was 30–39, and the years of experience with the highest frequency of death was
0–4. In fact, the analysis indicates an even stronger pattern of the deadly combination of age and tenure.
Implications of the study include the need for larger scale data collection on the national population of officers,
detailed information on transfers and time of service overall (as opposed to time in service at current department),
and evaluations of current training programs and practices regarding de-escalation and the use of force as well as
self-defense and situational awareness.
Keywords
Officer deaths law enforcement, deadly mix, domestic calls, officer safety, census, national database
Submitted 31 Jul 2020, Revise received 16 May 2021, accepted 4 Jun 2021
Introduction
In light of recent widespread attention to policing practices,
policies, and training operations, including calls to “defund
the police”and “police reform”, it is importantto understand
Corresponding author:
Donna L Selman, School of Criminology and Security Studies, Indiana
State University, 210 Holmstedt Hall, 620 Chestnut Street, Terre Haute,
IN 47803, USA.
Email: donna.selman@indstate.edu
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2022, Vol. 24(1) 3–14
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/14613557211032608
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