Killings of police officers declined in 2015

The number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty declined sharply last year, compared to 2014, according to preliminary data released by the FBI on Monday.

{mosads}Forty-one officers were killed in the line of duty in 2015, the FBI said, down nearly 20 percent from the 51 officers killed in 2014.

More killings occurred in the South than any other region, the FBI noted. In 38 of the 41 killings, assailants used firearms. In three cases, officers were killed by people using vehicles as weapons.

In addition to the 41 officers killed in the course of their job, 45 died as the result of on-the-job accidents. That number is the same as the statistic for 2014.

Monday’s data come after months of heightened scrutiny on deadly interactions involving police, following high-profile killings of largely African-American men.

FBI Director James Comey has claimed that the scrutiny, which has been dubbed the “Ferguson effect” after the killing of an 18-year-old in that Missouri town, has caused police to be more hesitant about getting involved in potentially perilous interactions. 

“There’s a perception that police are less likely to do the marginal additional policing that suppresses crime — the getting out of your car at 2 in the morning and saying to a group of guys, ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’ ” Comey told reporters last week, according to The New York Times.

That reluctance, he added, may be contributing to a spike in murders in urban areas.

Comey’s position has put him at odds with the White House, which has opposed suggestions that heightened scrutiny on violence involving police is contributing to greater crime.