The FBI released preliminary data from its Officers Killed and Assaulted in the Line of Duty, 2025 special report showing law enforcement agencies across the country reported 90,178 total assaults against officers during the 2025 calendar year. The assault rate reached 13.8 incidents per 100 officers — a figure the FBI identifies as the highest ever recorded in the history of the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, or LEOKA, data collection program.
A Record That Broke a Record Set One Year Earlier
The 2025 figure does not arrive in isolation. A systematic review of national data published in July 2026 identified 85,730 assaults on officers in 2024, which itself represented the highest total in over a decade at the time. The jump from 85,730 in 2024 to 90,178 in 2025 represents an increase of more than 4,400 reported incidents in a single year.
The 2024 data offered additional detail on physical harm. Of the 85,730 assaults recorded that year, 29,538 resulted in physical injuries to officers. That means roughly one in three assaults in 2024 produced documented bodily harm. Separately, the 2024 data recorded 64 total line-of-duty deaths.
The Department of Justice estimates that an average of 22,445 officers suffer injuries annually following on-the-job assaults, according to DOJ figures cited alongside the LEOKA program data.
How the LEOKA Program Collects and Uses Its Data
The LEOKA program collects data from federal, state, county, city, tribal, and university law enforcement agencies through the Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The FBI describes the collection as a summary-level effort — it produces a nationwide view of incidents rather than detailed, incident-level reporting. That distinction matters for agencies trying to use the data for operational decisions: the numbers tell you how many assaults occurred and at what rate, but not the granular circumstances of each event.
Agencies that submit data to the UCR Program are required to do so by the 14th of every month to ensure their numbers are included in the mid-month updates published on the FBI's Crime Data Explorer. The CDE serves as the primary portal for accessing the latest preliminary statistics and monthly infographics on officer safety. The FBI analyzes LEOKA data to tailor officer safety awareness training and develop lessons learned for partner agencies. According to the FBI, the special report is intended to inform policing strategies and shape public policy aimed at improving officer safety.
Ambush Attacks and the First Half of 2026
While the LEOKA report covers calendar year 2025, data from the first six months of 2026 points to continued danger in the field. The Fraternal Order of Police reported that 169 officers were shot in the line of duty during the first half of 2026. Of those, 36 were victims of ambush-style attacks. Six officers were killed in ambush-style attacks during that same six-month period.
The total number of officers killed by gunfire in the first half of 2026 was 15. The FOP attributes the gap between 169 officers shot and only 15 killed to advancements in medical trauma science and anti-ballistic technology. Put plainly: more officers are being shot, but a smaller proportion are dying from those wounds than historical rates would have predicted.
What the Data Demands from Agencies
The LEOKA program has tracked officer safety incidents for decades, and the 2025 report represents a clear inflection point. The record-high assault rate of 13.8 per 100 officers, set against the backdrop of a previous record set just one year earlier in 2024, signals a trend that agency leadership cannot treat as statistical noise.
The FBI's stated purpose for the report goes beyond documentation. The bureau uses LEOKA findings to develop training materials and communicate lessons learned to partner agencies — a process that flows directly from the raw numbers into the field. Agencies that are not submitting monthly data by the UCR Program's 14th-of-the-month deadline are, by definition, excluded from the mid-month updates that inform those training priorities.
The 29,538 injury-producing assaults recorded in 2024 alone — before the even higher 2025 totals — represent thousands of officers who required medical attention, took time away from duty, or suffered lasting physical consequences. The DOJ's annual injury estimate of 22,445 places a standing baseline on the problem. The 2025 LEOKA data suggests that baseline is being exceeded.
The full preliminary dataset and monthly infographics are available through the FBI's Crime Data Explorer for agencies seeking to benchmark their own assault figures against the national rate.
