| Home | About | Roll of Honour | Memorial | National Roll | Force Rolls | Search |

Honouring and Remembering British Police Officers who Lost their Lives in the Line of Duty ~ Lest we Forget

STATISTICS

UK Police Line of Duty Fatalities by Cause of Death

April 2000 to March 2010

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 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

 3

 2

 1

 5

 5

 3

 1

 2

 12

2008

 0

 7

 2+4

 1

 5

 5

 1

 1

 13

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

 25

 18+4

3

 80

 22+2

 1+1

 52+2

 23

 10

 11+2

 =143

Police Line of Duty Death Statistics - Impact of Road Deaths Travelling To or From Duty - 2000 to 2010

April 2000 – March 2010

Total reported UK Police line of duty deaths = 143

Accident/Misadventure = 105
Natural Causes = 23
Criminal Acts = 15

Of the 105 deaths caused by accident/misadventure, 100 died in Road Traffic Accidents, of which 54 were travelling to or from duty.

The most common causes of death are road accidents (70% 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 = 54 = 38%
Road Accident on duty = 46 = 32%
Natural Causes on duty = 23 = 16%
Criminal Acts = 15 = 10%
Other Accident = 5 = 4%

Since 2000 road traffic accidents travelling to and from duty have been the most common cause of police line of duty deaths, accounting for 38% 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 2000-2010 by police force area:-

1960-2010 (March)

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.

Contact Us

Page updated 29 May 2012

National Police Officers Roll of Honour Copyright © Anthony Rae 1985-2012

Return to Top of Page