STATISTICS

Police Line of Duty Fatalities by Cause of Death

2000 to 2009

Northern Ireland figures shown with + prefix

Key:

CA

Criminal Acts

MV

Misadventure

AC

Accident

NC

Natural Causes

UK

Unlawful Killing -

Murder, Manslaughter.

MV

Hazardous duty

Accidental death.

AC

Accidental death on routine duty

NC

Natural Cause contributed to by the performance of a particular duty.

PV

Political Violence - murder by insurrection or terrorism.

TA

Traffic Accident.

TA

Traffic Accident.

AV

Act of Violence - not amounting to unlawful killing.

OA

Other Accident.

OA

Other Accident.

SD

Sudden Death - routine or non-operational duty.

DD

Death by Dangerous Driving - through criminal use of a vehicle.

TR

Travelling to or from duty.

Criminal Acts

Misadventure

Accident

Natural Causes

YEAR

CA

UK

PV

AV

DD

MV

TA

OA

AC

TA

OA

TR

NC

NC

SD

TOTAL

2009

 1

 +1

 2

 2

 5

 5

 3

 1

 2

 11

2008

 0

 7

 2+4

 1

 5

 5

 2

 2

 14

2007

 2

 2

 0

 9

 2

 1+1

 5

 4

 2

 1+1

 15

2006

 1

 1

 3

 3

 7

 3

 4

 2

 1

 1

 13

2005

 1

 1

 2

 1

 1

 13

 3+1

 7+2

 2

 1

 1

 18

2004

 1

 1

 1

 1

 4

 1

 3

 6

 3

 3

 12

2003

 3

 2

 1

 2

 2

 8

 4

 4

 1

 1

 14

2002

 2

 2

 3

 3

 13

 5

 8

 3

 1

 1+1

 21

2001

 2

 2

 2

 2

 10

 3

 7

 1

 1

 15

2000

 2

 1+1

 1

 1

 5

 1+1

 3

 0

 8

Total:

 15

 12+1

 1+1

 23

 17+4

 2

 79

 22+2

 1+1

 51+2

 24

 10

 12+2

 =141

Police Line of Duty Death Statistics - Impact of Road Deaths Travelling To or From Duty - 2000 to 2009

2000 – 2009 (November)

Total reported UK Police line of duty deaths = 141

Accident/Misadventure = 102
Natural Causes = 24
Criminal Acts = 15

Of the 102 deaths caused by accident/misadventure, 98 died in Road Traffic Accidents, of which 53 were travelling to or from duty.

The most common causes of death are road accidents (69% of total deaths)
More than half of these road accidents (54%) are while travelling to or from duty.

As a percentage of total deaths:

Road Accident travelling = 53 = 37%
Road Accident on duty = 45 = 32%
Natural Causes on duty = 24 = 17%
Criminal Acts = 15 = 11%
Other Accident = 4 = 3%

Since 2000 road traffic accidents travelling to and from duty have been the most common cause of police line of duty deaths, accounting for 37% of all deaths and 54% of road deaths.

Reported deaths in road accidents while travelling to or from duty and on duty by year:-

Deaths while travelling to or from duty 2000-2009 by police force area:-

1960-2009

Reported deaths in road accidents travelling to/from duty and on duty by decades 1960-2009:

Whilst on duty road deaths have decreased by 60% over the last 50 years, deaths while travelling have increased by 150%.

From deaths while travelling in the 1960s accounting for 16% of all road accident deaths, over the last decade this has risen to 54% with more road deaths while travelling to or from duty than while actually on duty.

Notes:
Figures shown are reported deaths, some deaths while travelling may have gone unreported.
These figures do not include offences of homicide by the criminal use of vehicles.

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Page updated 16 November 2009

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