The Home Office estimates there were 23,000 assaults against officers in 2014/15, and since 1945 more than 250 officers have been fatally shot

How many police officers are harmed in the line of duty?

It is difficult to pin down an exact figure for the number of police officers injured in the line of duty, because of a lack of official statistics. However, a Home Office report released this year gives an estimate of 23,000 assaults against officers in 2014/15.

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The figure is based on:

Self-reported data, which does not include assaults that officers do not report. In some cases officers will choose not to report cases, as it is often not compulsory to do so. And not all forces provide this data in the same way.

Police-recorded crime data. Forces supply the number of cases of “assault without injury on a constable” to the Home Office as part of their recorded crime data. This only includes assaults where no injury was involved.



The figures for the forces that provide data have been used to calculate the 23,000 estimate for all forces. The Home Office hopes to publish a more robust set of numbers next summer.

How are they injured?

According to the Health and Safety Executive’s reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations (Riddor), also based on self-reported figures, the top three causes of injuries to police officers in 2012/13 were physical assault, slips/trips and handling accidents.

The rate of physical assault against police officers is almost 12 times the “all occupations” rate, according to the Riddor data. Moreover, police officers’ injury rates are up to four times the “all occupations” rate.

How many police die in the line of duty?

More than 4,000 police officers have been killed in the line of duty since 1792, when the first salaried constables went on duty. More than 250 officers have been fatally shot since 1945, according to the National Police Memorial Day website. Since 2010, 11 officers of the Metropolitan police have lost their lives in the line of duty.

There are 207,140 police workers in the 43 police forces of England and Wales. Police officers make up two-thirds of all police workers.