Data Indicates a Decrease in Nationwide Law Enforcement Officer Fatalities in the First Half of 2025

CHICAGO (WLS) — A statistical pattern is heading in a positive direction, a new report shows.

For the first half of 2025, the number of officers killed in the line of duty across the country has decreased compared to this time last year.

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At the midpoint of the year, there is a notable reduction in the number of law enforcement personnel fatalities nationwide compared to the same timeframe last year.

Those numbers are hard to fathom for a city still mourning the loss of a Chicago police officer killed in the line of duty last month.

Officer Krystal Rivera tragically lost her life when her partner accidentally discharged his firearm during a pursuit. Rivera stands as the sole law enforcement officer in Illinois to have died in the line of duty this year, according to the I-Team’s analysis of the data.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund has reported that during the first half of 2025, there have been 42 fatalities among law enforcement officials while on duty. This total accounts for personnel from federal, state, county, and tribal law enforcement agencies.

In that same time period in 2024, there were 89 deaths. That’s a 53% decrease for 2025.

ABC7 Police Affairs Consultant and former suburban police chief Bill Kushner said while the numbers are positive, this doesn’t include assaults on law enforcement.

“We have to look at the other side of the coin, in the last 10 years there’s almost been a 64% increase on assaults on police officers,” Kushner said. “For the grace of God, we haven’t lost as many officers as we have in the past. A lot of that is better body armor, better tactics, better medics. We have to give paramedics their due, and emergency room personnel… But I think there’s less and less regard for the order of law, and less and less regard for law enforcement personnel.”

In the last 10 years, the Chicago Police Department has lost 21 officers to injuries in the line of duty, or COVID-19 infections, according to data reviewed by the I-Team.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said it releases these figures to “highlight best practices in officer safety and wellness” nationwide.