by Richard Wemmer, Charles Moorman, and Ken Impellizeri |
In 2025, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (NLEOM) reported nationwide that law enforcement accidental and felonious deaths increased by 25% when comparing 2023 to 2024. (1) At the conclusion of 2024 there was just one instance where a California peace officer was feloniously killed in the line of duty. (2) Although this is one too many, it is still a significant law enforcement milestone.
- A felonious peace officer (PO) death is an incident where a PO, while engaged in their duty performance was fatally injured as a direct result of a willful and intentional act by an offender(s). (3)
- An accidental PO death is an incident where a PO was fatally injured due to an accident or negligence that occurred while acting in an official capacity. Due to law enforcement’s hazardous nature, PO deaths are considered accidental if the cause of death is not found to be a willful and intentional act of another or others. (4)
In addition to the one California victim peace officer (CVPO) who was feloniously killed in 2024, four victim POs – three CVPOs and one federal agent lost their lives in separate accidental incidents. These involved an aircraft crash, a fire, and two vehicle collisions during enforcement duties.
The research of CVPO felonious murders is a complicated process for the following reasons:
- Pending criminal investigation or prosecution
- Civil litigation (a recent trend where agencies are sued for operational/training deficiencies)
- A reluctance to release information that identifies safety/training trends
- Historical data with specific details sometimes unavailable
During a 74-year period in California, from 1950 to 2024, over 450 CVPOs were killed. (5) Every year from 1950 to 2023, California experienced at least two or more felonious killings. The deadliest single year was 1970 with 21 CVPOs killed, and the lowest six years were 1951, 1955, 2000, 2012, 2017, and 2020, each with two murders. (6) Thus, 2024’s lone CVPO feloniously killed is a significant step to a year with none. This is a credit to all local, state, and federal policing agencies and individuals.
In the decades from 1950 through 2020, these tragic deaths fueled milestone changes in policing practices in the following areas:
- Attitudes – “A moment in time to be the best that I can ever be”
- Ethical/tactical decision-making and problem solving (multi-tasking)
- Officer health/wellness – emotional survival, mental health, and resilience
- Officer safety culture within an agency
- On and off-duty safety plans (education of family, friends, and loved ones’ roles)
- Situational awareness – book/street smart (danger signs), and emotional intelligence
- Weapon retention – firearm retention holsters
- Will to survive/win – mental preparation of “When versus if I am shot” (complacency is number one enemy of CVPOs)
- Criminal behaviors and their experiences dealing with POs
- Contraband – concealing/disguising
- Distractions – fooling/manipulating the officer into disadvantage
- Social media – communicating to others by phone or video (filming in-progress police activities)
- Weapon recognition – concealed/disguised (edged, explosive, firearms, and homemade)
- Equipment/technology advances
- Body armor, cameras, computers, drones, and robots
- Radio communications – portable radios (notify dispatch of all activities)
- Medical equipment/training for POs – Tactical Combat Casualty Care and tourniquets
- Firearms
- Backup firearm and extra ammunition
- Police rifles
- Semi-automatic pistols (transition from revolvers)
- Policing strategies and tactical options
- Ambushes, assaults, and attacks – prevention/recognition
- Back-up personnel – contact and cover
- Contain versus entry – diagonal deployment and calling people out/slowing it down
- Cover versus concealment – Cover + Distance (CD) = Position of Advantage (POA)
- Distancing – position of disadvantage (POD) versus POA
- Officer/people down – rescuing inside/outside buildings and immediate first aid
- Stops – pedestrian and vehicle (traffic, investigation, and high-risk pullovers – awareness of hands and arm movement)
- Training
- Briefings/roll calls
- Building entry/search techniques – use of threat assessment checklists and Special Weapons and Tactics Teams during high-risk activities
- Certified instructors/trainers
- Foot and vehicle pursuits – followings, perimeters, and seat belts
- In-service – both frequency and mandated topics
- Scenario-based with simulated marking ammunition involving shock, startle, and surprise (tactical discipline)
- Standardized curriculum – entry-level and in-service
- Use of force equipment and training
- Arrest and control defensive tactics – wall searches and weapon retention
- De-escalation techniques – active listening and slowing it down
- Force on force – armed and physical resistance (safety)
- Less lethal options – bean bag shotgun, chemical agent, conductive energy device, and extended range impact weapon
- Team concepts to respond to mentally ill and persons under the influence (team leader/specific assignments with identified force options)
Over the years, law enforcement training has evolved. When we look back, we can identify many concepts that were unsafe, yet at the time, were considered solid practices. However, POs learned that criminals countered these procedures, resulting in the development of safer options.
The adoption of more efficient practices will continue to enhance community/officer safety. Active listening, close quarter clearing techniques, de-escalation, and high-risk pedestrian/vehicle contacts are some of the skills required to make POs more professional and safer.
In the future, law enforcement personnel in all assignments and ranks must constantly assess the effectiveness of their field operations and incident responses – patrol, investigative, and specialized units, and their community policing practices. Successful community relations will also provide rich rewards and useful information to policing agencies.
Currently, there are over 24,000 peace officer names inscribed on the NLEOM in Washington D.C. (7) The goal each year must be that no peace officer is injured or killed in the line-of-duty.
Sources
[1] NLEOM – https://NLEOM.org/memorial/facts-figures/latest-fatality-reports
[2] – On July 11, 2024, at 10:30 a.m., Vacaville Police Officer Matthew Bowen was intentionally struck by a vehicle while conducting a traffic stop. The motorcycle officer died from his injuries and the assailant was arrested.
[3] FBI LEOKA Data Collection – https://UCR.FBI.gov/leoka/2019/resource-pages/definitions
[4] FBI LEOKA Data Collection – https://UCR.FBI.gov/leoka/2019/resource-pages/definitions
[5] Peace Officer Safety Institute – www.leoka.org In 2025 Wemmer and Moorman are publishing a book that will cover 75 years of CVPO felonious murders with data, lessons learned, and training recommendations.
[6] Peace Officer Safety Institute – www.leoka.org
[7] NLEOM – https://NLEOM.org/memorial/facts-figures/lastest-fatality-reports
The Authors
Richard Wemmer, Charles Moorman, and Ken Impellizeri jointly have over 110 years of California law enforcement experience. The authors have devoted years to examining the causal factors and lessons learned in CVPO murders. Individually and together, they have made numerous training presentations and served as consultants and expert witnesses. Their backgrounds can be reviewed at www.leoka.org