Since the 1780s, over 25,000 United States law enforcement officers have died while on active duty, or due to injuries and illnesses obtained while on duty. Gunfire is responsible for over half of all total law enforcement deaths recorded, particularly before the 1930s. From this point on, the total share of gunfire deaths has decreased significantly, mostly due to the increase in vehicle or health related deaths, although gunfire has remained the most common individual cause of death in almost every year. Gunfire deaths These deaths rose steadily after the Civil War, and peaked at over 200 annual deaths during the 1920s, due to the increase in criminal activity during prohibition. Because of this, the National Firearms Act of 1934 was introduced in an attempt to reduce gun-related crime, by requiring the registration of any transfer of ownership and imposing a tax on gun manufacturers and distributors. After Prohibition's end and the introduction of these measures, annual law enforcement deaths from gunfire have been well below 100 in almost every year, except for a brief spike in the early 1970s, during the crime wave that began in the 1960s and the beginning of the "War on Drugs". Overall, gunfire deaths of law enforcement have fallen since the 1970s, reaching a low of just 34 deaths in 2013. In contrast, the total number of people killed by police shootings has consistently been above one thousand for most of the past decade.

Increase in health-related deaths

The majority of non-gunfire deaths are a result of vehicle-related accidents, and the number of crashes and accidents rose throughout the 20th century in line with the increase in car ownership. However, the number of deaths from heart attacks and job-related illness has also risen over time, due to the aging of the population and increasingly unhealthy lifestyle trends across the country. In recent decades, additional health issues have emerged that have had a disproportionate impact on law enforcement. In 2001, 72 officers died as a result of the September 11th terrorist attacks, and over 350 additional deaths have been attributed to the adverse health effects (primarily respiratory illnesses) sustained by first responders from law enforcement. From 2020-2022, COVID-19 became the largest single cause of law enforcement deaths. Figures relate to cases where the individual contracted COVID-19 while on duty, and highlights the increased exposure to the virus faced by those considered to be frontline or essential workers. This number is likely to fall in the future as infection rates fall and newer strains of the virus are less lethal.

For current events see Police Dispatch Events 2021-present. Calls for service dispatched to Mesa Police Patrol Officers through Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system for the period 1/1/2017 - 12/31/2020. Calls are modified for public use, obfuscating the address number through rounding it to the 100 block. Note that these are calls for service and may not necessarily correspond to the data located in the Police Incidents dataset. Crimes reported in this data set have not been adjudicated in a court of law for final determination.

Sensitive crimes are listed but the address of their occurrence will NOT be included. In this way aggregate totals of crimes will be accurate, without providing sensitive information. Addresses where the following crime types occur will NOT be captured: Sexual abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Incest, Molestation of a child and Homicide.

Priority One (P1) Call: Life threatening or confrontations which may threaten life or safety of a person.

Priority Two (P2) Call: In progress crime that could result in a threat to injure or possible major property loss or immediate apprehension of a suspect. Accidents with injury or other traffic incidents that create a traffic hazard.

Priority Three (P3) Call: Minor in-progress/just occurred calls, where there is no threat of injury or major property loss.

Priority Four (P4) Call: Nuisance calls, civil standbys, delayed reports where reporting party (RP) is at public location.

Priority Five (P5) Call: Calls where a delay will not result in a crime occurring or the loss of an apprehension or an injured person not receiving aid.