Nationwide, 72 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty, according to statistics released Monday by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
The number shows an increase compared to 2010 in officer deaths during a crime, the statement said. In 2010, that number was 56. In 2011, that number rose to 72.
Of those officers, 10 were killed in the west, compared to 29 in the south and 21 in the Midwest. Ten were also killed in the Northeast, and two were killed in Puerto Rico.
The report did not say how many law enforcement officers in San Diego died in the line of duty. However still fresh in the region's memory is the death of Officer Jeremy Henwood, who was shot in the line-of-duty and later died in the hospital.
Henwood was shot by a suspect who police believe shot at another man moments before and then fled in his car. Witnesses said a man pulled up on this side of Henwood’s vehicle and shot him with a shotgun in what officials believe was an unprovoked attack.
Of the 72 deaths, 19 were killed during ambushes, five were killed while investigating suspicious individuals or circumstances. Eleven were killed during traffic pursuits or stops. Five were killed when they interrupted robberies in progress and four died while responding to disturbance calls, the statement reported.
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