(NewsNation) — After the National Fraternal Order of Police said 2023 set a record for officers shot in the line of duty, new numbers show this year could surpass that.
So far this year, 10 officers have died while serving and 98 have been shot, according to a report released by the National Fraternal Order of Police. In 2023, 46 officers were killed and a record 378 were shot.
That remains slightly ahead of 2023 numbers, and the number of officers shot jumped 60% from 2018-2023.
“Every single one of those deaths is just an impact that’s almost immeasurable,” Bill Alexander, the CEO of the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, told NewsNation.
One of the 10 to die in the line of duty from a shooting was New York City Police Department Officer Jonathan Diller. He was shot and killed while making a traffic stop in Queens late last month.
Two officers, Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, of the Burnsville, Minnesota Police Department, died in a February shooting while responding to a domestic incident. They were both just 27 years old.
Investigators later said the shooting happened without warning.
“(The statistics are) also indicative, I might argue, of what I think is increasingly dangerous conditions for the men and women who are in uniform out on the streets doing the job,” Alexander said.
The National Fraternal Order of Police continues to call on lawmakers to pass the Protect and Serve Act, which would create federal criminal penalties for suspects who target police officers.
The latest version of the bill was introduced early last year but has not moved forward since.