A review of the 2002 data by month revealed that August was the month in which the greatest number of officers, 9, were killed, followed by January and November in which 8 officers were feloniously killed in each month. The fewest number of officers, 1, were feloniously killed in June. In the 10-year period, 1993 through 2002, more officers, 63, were killed in August than in any other month. The fewest number of officers, 42, were feloniously killed in June. (See Table 4.)
Alleged Assailants
The 56 officers who were killed in 2002 lost their lives in 53 separate incidents. Sixty-one assailants were identified in connection with those incidents. Of the 61 identified suspects, 45 were arrested, 8 were justifiably killed by persons other than the victim officer, and 4 of the assailants committed suicide. Three assailants were justifiably killed by the victim officer, and 1 assailant remains at large at the time of publication. Seven offenders remain unidentified.
Of the 61 identified suspects, 59 were male and 2 were female. Regarding the race of the assailants, 37 were white and 24 were black. The average age of the assailants was 32 years. Two of the assailants were under 18 years of age, 24 were 18 to 24 years of age, 10 were 25 to 30 years of age, 12 were 31 to 40 years of age, and 13 were over the age of 40. (See Tables 38 and 39.)
For 2002, a review of the criminal histories of the 61 known assailants revealed that 48 had prior criminal arrests, 36 had been convicted on a prior criminal charge, and 18 of the suspects had been previously arrested for a violent crime. Two assailants had prior arrests for murder. Thirty-one of the suspects had received parole or probation for prior criminal charges, 28 had prior arrests for drug law violations, 19 had been arrested for weapons violations, and 10 assailants had prior arrests for assaulting an officer or resisting arrest. (See Table 42.)
