The FBI's Officers Killed and Assaulted in the Line of Duty report confirmed 53 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed during the 2025 calendar year. The figures were compiled through the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, which serves as the primary mechanism for collecting data on line-of-duty deaths and assaults nationwide. The report was released in conjunction with national observances for fallen officers.
The report draws a clear distinction between felonious killings and accidental deaths in the line of duty. The 53 confirmed felonious killings represent officers whose deaths resulted from criminal acts — not accidents — a classification the FBI maintains to provide precise data on intentional violence directed at law enforcement personnel.
Assault Rate Reaches Highest Level in a Decade
Beyond the killings, law enforcement agencies reported a total of 90,178 assaults against officers in 2025, according to the FBI report. That volume translates to a rate of 13.8 assaults per 100 officers — the highest recorded level in the past 10 years.
The 13.8 per 100 officers metric is significant because it provides a standardized measure that allows comparisons across agencies of vastly different sizes. A small rural department and a major metropolitan force can both be assessed against the same benchmark. At 90,178 incidents, the raw number alone signals the scale of response burden placed on agencies and their support systems throughout the year.
The FBI characterized the 2025 figures as reflecting a sustained challenge for law enforcement agencies on officer safety and wellness. The report identifies a concerning trend in violence directed against police personnel — one that the data, stretching back a decade, now confirms has reached its worst point in that span.
How the Data Was Collected
The report is built on preliminary national data voluntarily submitted by law enforcement agencies across the United States through the UCR Program. Participation is not mandatory. The FBI continues to encourage all law enforcement agencies to submit data to ensure the most comprehensive picture possible.
Within the UCR framework, the FBI uses the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) program specifically to collect, evaluate, and publish real-time data on officer safety. LEOKA is the channel through which individual agency submissions flow into the national figures published in the annual report.
Because participation is voluntary, the 90,178 assault figure and the 53 felonious killings reflect only what reporting agencies submitted. Agencies that did not participate are not represented in the totals, which means the actual national figures could be higher.
What the Report Is Designed to Do
The FBI frames the annual report as a foundational document for discussions on officer safety and the impact of violence on the profession. The data is intended to help agencies understand trends in violence and use that understanding to inform safety protocols at the local level.
The 13.8 assaults per 100 officers rate gives agency leadership a concrete reference point. When a department reviews its own assault numbers against that national rate, it can assess whether its officers face higher or lower relative risk than the national average — and adjust training, deployment, or policy accordingly.
The report's release alongside national fallen officer observances places the numbers in direct public and professional context. The timing is not incidental. It connects the statistical record to the human reality of what those figures represent for officers, their families, and the agencies that employ them.
The 2025 data adds to a multi-year record maintained through the UCR Program. That longitudinal dataset is what allows the FBI to confirm that 13.8 assaults per 100 officers is the highest rate in 10 years — a claim that requires a decade of consistent data collection to support. The sustained upward pressure on that rate, now confirmed at its peak over that period, gives agency administrators and policymakers a clear signal about the direction of violence against officers.
With 90,178 assaults logged in a single year, the volume of incidents requiring agency response, documentation, officer support, and in many cases medical attention is substantial. Each assault represents a discrete event that departments must manage — administratively, medically, and in terms of officer wellness and continued service.
