|There are approximately 870,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the United States. |
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|About 11.3 percent of them are female. |
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|Crime fighting has taken its toll. Since the first recorded police death in 1792, there have been more that 16,500 law enforcement|
|officers killed in the line of duty. |
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|A total of 1,658 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the last 10 years, an average of one death every 53 |
|hours or 166 per year. |
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|There were 230 police deaths in 2001 nationwide, which represents a 49 percent increase from the 154 officers who died in 2000. |
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|In 2002 there were 147 police deaths nationwide – a significant decrease from 2001. |
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|There were 145 law enforcement officers killed in 2003.