Officers Killed in Line of Duty Drops

The number of police officers killed in the line of duty nationwide dropped to a 30-year low in 1996, the National Assn. of Chiefs of Police reported. Nearly half of the 118 fallen officers were shot. Morton Feldman, the association’s executive vice president, attributed the decrease to the fact that more violent criminals are being imprisoned longer and that more officers are wearing bullet-resistant vests regularly and are receiving better training. In 1966, 108 officers died. In 1995, 176 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty, including 13 in the Oklahoma City federal building bombing.