Chances are you may never have heard of the Law Enforcement Officers Fatality Report. It’s a production of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund; the group issues a mid-year report in July and a full-year summary in January that mentions law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty during the year. It’s a sobering reminder of how dangerous a law enforcement job can be, but at the same time, it reflects the attitudes and respect the public shows these officers in return. Bill Alexander is CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund; he appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to offer some numbers at a time when it seems law enforcement is the most thankless type of job in the world.
Alexander told host Larry Mendte that there are encouraging signs for law enforcement in recent months: “So we put out the report, which shows the number of line-of-duty deaths across the first six months of 2025, and the reality is that it is dramatic reduction compared to the same time last year. Last year in this time, we had 89 men and women in uniform die in the line of duty, and this year we are reporting 42 such deaths. It’s never great news to report on even a single police officer dying, but certainly this is a very, very welcome trend.”
Alexander says the group has 250 years’ worth of data to analyze, but he offers this possible explanation why officer fatalities are down in 2025: “I could certainly make a compelling argument that here has been a change over the last 6-8 months, in terms of respectability, in terms of law and order… and I think to some small degree, not universally, but some folks are now recognizing they need to listen to law enforcement and comply with commands, hopefully resulting in fewer uses of force by police officers and certainly fewer officer deaths.”
Alexander added that anyone interested in the fund’s work or in making a donation to remember members of the law enforcement community who make the supreme sacrifice can go to NLEOMF.org for more information.
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