27 Tennessee Police Officers Have Been Killed On The Job In The Last Decade

Image Credit: Nashville.gov

By Samuel Stebbins [24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square] –

Tasked with protecting lives and property, police officers have one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. Responding to emergencies, conducting traffic stops, patrolling high-crime areas, and arresting suspects are all part and parcel of the job – and each year, dozens of police officers are killed in the line of duty, feloniously or accidentally.

According to data compiled by the FBI, a total of 984 police officers in the U.S. were killed on the job over the 10-year period from 2012 to 2021. Just under half of those deaths – 480 – were accidental, often a case of officers on foot being struck by a moving vehicle or dying in a car crash.

The remaining 504 officers, however, were killed feloniously, which the FBI defines as an officer who “was fatally injured as a direct result of a willful and intentional act by an offender.” The circumstances of these deaths range from unprovoked attacks to ambushes, domestic violence calls, or active shooter situations. South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming are the only three states in which no police were killed on the job in the last decade.

In Tennessee, a total of 27 police officers have been killed on the job in the last decade, or 151 officers for every 100,000 police on the force as of 2021 – the 25th highest fatality rate among the 47 states in which at least one officer was killed between 2012 and 2021.

Of the officers killed in the state, 19 were killed accidentally, and eight were killed feloniously. These numbers are a reminder that the hundreds of thousands of men and women who work in law enforcement put their lives on the line each time they put on their uniform.

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RankStateDeaths per 100k officers (2012-2021)Total police deaths (2012-2021)Total accidental deaths (2012-2021)Total felonious deaths (2012-2021)Total law enforcement officers (2021)
1Mississippi6452916134,494
2Louisiana46047212610,211
3Illinois3553319149,301
4New Mexico34611563,181
5Indiana326155104,606
6Alaska3084131,297
7Arkansas280198116,788
8South Carolina25427171010,642
9Ohio23826101610,922
10Arizona23730141612,652
11Alabama22427131412,056
12Georgia21853262724,324
13Hawaii2126332,828
14Kansas21112395,677
15North Dakota2104131,908
16Missouri201199109,466
17Oklahoma199181359,025
18Texas196116575959,121
19Iowa19010555,251
20Kentucky18714777,494
21Colorado18523131012,416
22Utah18410285,446
23West Virginia1746153,456
24Maine1704312,348
25Tennessee1512719817,886
26Montana1483122,032
27Washington144157810,431
28North Carolina13031171423,788
29Delaware1293032,324
30Nevada1269277,136
31Virginia12423121118,542
32Pennsylvania1232011916,202
33Michigan12222111117,961
34Wisconsin108125711,105
35Maryland105168815,184
36Nebraska1054223,798
37New Hampshire1043122,871
38Florida10249242547,993
39California9775354077,621
40Massachusetts75127515,923
41Minnesota7073410,041
42Idaho672112,995
43Oregon644226,286
44New York5733191458,388
45Rhode Island401102,491
46Connecticut403217,557
47New Jersey341311238,223
48South Dakota00001,935
49Vermont00001,089
50Wyoming00001,551
Source: 24/7 Wall Street

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