WASHINGTON — The FBI released its annual Officers Killed and Assaulted in the Line of Duty report, showing 53 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in 2025, while assaults on officers reached their highest rate in a decade.
The report, compiled through the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, includes preliminary national data voluntarily submitted by law enforcement agencies.
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According to the FBI, firearms were the most commonly used weapons in fatal attacks on officers. The report identified 49 offenders connected to the killings. Most were male (95.7%), more than half were white (64.4%) and nearly 30 had prior criminal records.
While officer deaths declined compared to the previous two years, assaults against officers increased. Agencies reported 90,178 assaults in 2025, equating to 13.8 assaults per 100 officers — the highest assault rate recorded in the past 10 years.
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The South region continued to record the highest number of officer deaths, though fatalities in the region dropped 25% from 2024.
The report also showed firearm-related injuries to officers have declined over the past two years after reaching a 10-year peak in 2023. In 2025, 445 officers were assaulted and injured by firearms, down from 517 in 2023.
The FBI noted that most accidental officer deaths from 2021 through 2025 involved motor vehicle crashes.
Also released May 11 were updated Law Enforcement Employee Counts, which track the number of sworn officers and civilian personnel nationwide to help agencies assess staffing and operational needs.
