HAPCOA INVITED TO COMMENT ON NLEOMF 2014 OFFICER FATALIES REPORT

(Washington, DC)  On December 30, 2014, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund released its Preliminary 2014 Law Enforcement Officer Fatalities Report.  A complete copy of this report can be found at the NLEOMF website:

http://www.nleomf.org/assets/pdfs/reports/Preliminary-2014-Officer-Fatalities-Report.pdf

HAPCOA Executive Director Anthony Chapa was invited by the NLEOMF to comment on this report at the steps of the National Law Enforcement Memorial site before the cameras of Telemundo and award winning journalist and National Correspondent Lori Montenegro.

Law Enforcement fatalities in the U.S. rose 24% in 2014, reversing what had been two years of dramatic declines in line of duty deaths.  According to the NLEOMF report, 126 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial officers were killed in the line of duty, compared to 102 in 2013.  Of this number 15 of our fallen offices were Latinos. 

The focus of the Telemundo interview was the number of law enforcement officer fatalities nationwide of which firearms-related fatalities spiked 56% while ambush attacks on officers remained the leading cause of felonious deaths.