Forty-eight law enforcers were killed in the line of duty in 2009, seven more than in 2008, the FBI reported Monday. Forty-seven other officers were killed in accidents while performing their duties, and more than 57,000 officers were assaulted on the job. About a quarter of those were injured. The annual FBI report includes federal, state, local and tribal law enforcers killed and assaulted in the line of duty.

According to the figures, the long-term trend has seen a slight decline in the number of officers killed while on duty, despite the increase from ’08 to ’09. The FBI link below gives access to further details of the report, including fatalities by state, circumstances, the weapons used, and demographic profiles the officers and suspects involved. The FBI said offenders used firearms to kill 45 of the 48 victim officers. Twenty-one of the felonious deaths occurred in the South, 13 in the West, seven in the Northeast, and five in the Midwest. Two of the deaths took place in Puerto Rico.