Types of Assignment
Of those officers assaulted in 2002, 80.6 percent were assigned to vehicle patrols (63.1 percent were assigned to 1-officer patrols, and 17.5 percent were assigned to 2-officer patrols). Of the total number of officers assaulted, 5.6 percent were on detective or special assignment, and 13.8 percent were performing other duties. Fellow officers were at the scene assisting 70.3 percent of the assaulted officers. (Based on Table 58.)
Weapons
Nearly 81 percent (80.6) of assaults on law enforcement officers in 2002 were committed with personal weapons such as hands, fists, feet, etc. Of those officers assaulted with personal weapons, 29.8 percent suffered injuries. Assaults with firearms accounted for 3.3 percent of all assaults on law enforcement officers. When offenders used firearms, 12.2 percent of the officers assaulted suffered injuries. Knives and cutting instruments were used in 1.8 percent of assaults and resulted in injuries to officers in 17.1 percent of these cases. Other dangerous weapons, which were used in 14.3 percent of all assaults on officers, resulted in personal injuries to 25.7 percent of those officers. (See Tables 59.)
| Table 2.1 | |||
| Law Enforcement Officers Assaulted | |||
| Population Covered and Number of Reporting Agencies by Population Group of Victim Officer's Agency, 2002 | |||
| Population group | Number of reporting agencies |
Population covered |
Number of officers employed |
| Total | 9,987 | 216,342,701 | 482,762 |
| Group I (cities 250,000 and over) | 63 | 39,787,874 | 95,337 |
| Group II (cities 100,000 - 249,999) | 142 | 21,673,985 | 40,118 |
| Group III (cities 50,000 - 99,999) | 329 | 22,761,452 | 39,956 |
| Group IV (cities 25,000 - 49,999) | 594 | 20,805,665 | 37,791 |
| Group V (cities 10,000 - 24,999) | 1,330 | 21,010,862 | 41,186 |
| Group VI (cities under 10,000)[1] | 5,244 | 17,556,356 | 59,675 |
| Suburban counties[1] | 668 | 50,088,923 | 128,219 |
| Rural counties[1] | 1,617 | 22,657,584 | 40,480 |
