The death of a law enforcement officer is a tragedy: It represents the needless loss of a spouse, a parent, a child, a sibling, a neighbor, and a coworker. One hundred twenty-five law enforcement officers made the supreme sacrifice in the United States in 2011.¹

Law enforcement executives, trainers, and researchers seek to mitigate these tragedies and often rely upon an invaluable resource published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to detect trends to reduce future unnecessary losses of life. The FBI recently released Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted [LEOKA] 2011, which is a virtual treasure trove of data detailing myriad aspects surrounding these 125 deaths.