EL PASO, TX—The FBI has seen a dramatic rise in felonious deaths and assaults on law enforcement officers in 2020. This alarming uptick in violence is continuing in 2021. There have been 61 law enforcement officers feloniously killed in the line of duty to-date in 2021. This represents over a 50% increase compared to the 41 officers killed during the same period last year. This number translates to every five days an officer is killed in the line of duty.

In Texas, 5,359 law enforcement officers were assaulted in 2020, according to the FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted report issued on October 18, 2021.

In 2019, 3,585 law enforcement officers were assaulted in Texas.

“Law enforcement is unlike any other job,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey R. Downey said. “Other careers may be equally stressful and exhausting—physically and emotionally—but there are a few other professions in which you risk your own life for strangers, every single day. It’s a profession where you intentionally place yourself in danger for the greater good. It’s a profession where they choose to stop crime and give law-abiding citizens the chance to lead happy lives. On behalf of the FBI El Paso Division, I want to express the gratitude and thankfulness our employees have for the federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers in our community who chose the calling and keep our community safe.”

The El Paso FBI Division added two recently fallen FBI agents to its Wall of Honor, Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger and Special Agent Daniel Alfin, who were killed in Florida while investigating crimes against children.

According to statistics reported to the FBI, 60,105 law enforcement officers were assaulted nationwide while performing their duties in 2020.

Based on these reports, there were 4,071 more officers assaulted in 2020 than the 56,034 assaults reported in 2019.

An FBI press release with a link to the data can be found at: https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2020-statistics-for-law-enforcement-officers-assaulted-in-the-line-of-duty