Page:Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002.djvu/79

 Section II — Law Enforcement Officers Assaulted

Methodology

Section II contains data pertaining to assaults on sworn city, county, and state law enforcement officers. The information is collected monthly from UCR Program participants who collect and submit data either through their state UCR Programs or directly to the FBI (non-Program states).

Law enforcement agencies report the number of assaults resulting in serious injury or instances in which a weapon was used that could have caused serious injury or death. Agencies record other assaults only if they involved more than verbal abuse or minor resistance to an arrest.

The UCR Program publishes in Section II data reported by those law enforcement agencies that contributed 12 months of officer assault data and the number of officers they employed for the reporting year. In 2002, 9,987 law enforcement agencies providing services to over 216 million inhabitants or 75.0 percent of the Nation's total population met that criteria. Table 2. 1 presents by population groups the number of reporting agencies, the population covered, and the number of officers employed by each of those agencies. Additionally, Tables 55, 57, and 61 present data by population groups.

Overview

In 2002, the 9,987 law enforcement agencies contributing publishable data reported that 58,066 law enforcement officers were assaulted in the line of duty. The rate of 12.0 assaults per 100 officers employed in 2002 was 1.6 percent lower than the 2001 rate of 12.2, and 10.4 percent below the 13.4 rate recorded in 1998. The 2002 rate was 18.9 percent lower than the 1993 rate of 14.8 assaults per 100 officers employed. (Based on Tables 54 and 59.)

By region, the rate of law enforcement officers assaulted was the highest in the South, the most populous region, which had 13.9 assaults for every 100 officers employed. Law enforcement agencies in the West had a rate of 10.9 assaults per 100 officers; agencies in the Midwest, a rate of 10.8 assaults; and those in the Northeast, a rate of 10.2 assaults per 100 officers. (See Table 54.)

By population group, the highest rate of assaults on law enforcement officers, 17.5 per 100 officers, occurred in cities with populations of 100,000 to 249,999 inhabitants. Among the Nation's cities, those with under 10,000 inhabitants had the lowest rate, 7.2 assaults per 100 officers. Law enforcement officers in suburban counties experienced an assault rate of 10.3 and agencies in rural counties had a rate of 5.9 assaults per 100 officers. (See Table 55.)

Injuries

Over 28 percent (28.4) of all law enforcement officers assaulted in 2002 suffered personal injury. Among the Nation's four regions, law enforcement agencies in the Northeast experienced the highest percentage of officer assaults resulting in injury (33.0 percent of the 7,564 officers assaulted). Agencies in the Midwest had 29.8 percent of the 8,930 officer assaults result in injury. Of the 28,321 officers assaulted in the South, 27.7 percent of the officers were injured. In the West, 13,251 officers were assaulted, and 26.3 percent of those officers were injured. (Based on Table 54.)

Among the Nation's cities, law enforcement agencies in cities with populations of less than 10,000 inhabitants had the highest percentage of officers injured among those that were assaulted within their jurisdictions at 32.2 percent. Agencies in cities with populations of 250,000 and over had the lowest percentage at 25.4 percent. Agencies representing suburban counties had 28.9 percent of officers assaulted result in injuries, and rural counties had 29.6 percent of assaults on officers result in injuries. (Based on Table 55.)

Times

Most assaults (14.9 percent) on law enforcement officers in 2002 occurred during the hours of midnight and 2 a.m. Similarly, over the last 10 years (1993-2002), the majority (15.9 percent) of assaults on law enforcement officers occurred within the same time frame. (Based on Table 56.)

Clearances Of the total number of assaults on law enforcement officers in 2002, 89.6 percent were cleared by arrest or exceptional means. By circumstance, the greatest number of clearances for assaults on law enforcement officers, 92.4 percent, was for disturbance calls (family quarrels, bar fights, person with firearm, etc.). The circumstance with the lowest percentage of clearances, 72.9 percent, was for officers assaulted in ambush situations. (See Table 57.)

Circumstances

In 2002, the majority (31.1 percent) of officers assaulted were responding to disturbance calls, which include family quarrels, bar fights, person with firearm, etc. Over 13 percent (13.4) of the officers were assaulted while maintaining custody of prisoners, 11.0 percent were assaulted during traffic pursuits or stops, and 9.8 percent were investigating suspicious persons or circumstances. Over 16 percent (16.3) of the officers assaulted were attempting other types of arrests. Officers assaulted by mentally deranged assailants and those investigating burglary, robbery, or civil disorder incidents accounted for 5.1 percent of officers assaulted. The smallest percentage of assaults on law enforcement officers—0.3—were ambush situations. Officers performing all other duties comprised 12.9 percent of the assaults. (See Table 58.) Rh