DID YOU KNOW? More than 14,859 law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty. (Over 6,000 officers killed since 1960). There are approx., 740,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the U.S. About 14 per cent of those officers are female. Every year between 150 and 165 law enforcement officers are killed in the line of duty. (Approx., 300 children of police officers will need assistance in dealing with the grief of losing a parent.) Every 54 hours somewhere in America a law enforcement dies in service to the community. From 1986-1995, 197 convicts murdered a police officer while out on parole, probation, or early prison release. More than 100 police killers during that period were under 18 years of age. An average murderer spends 5.5 years in prison... a "life" sentence averages 7.7 years...and 3 out of 4 convicted criminals don't go to jail at all. Two police officers are shot every day in the United States. Most officers are killed during arrest situations, disturbances and car crashes. Most officers are killed between 4:01 P.M. and Midnight 25% of officers killed are killed with their own weapon. Most officers are killed within 60 seconds of contact with suspect. 40% of the time the officer is alone or has no backup available. More than 189 police officers are assaulted every day in the U.S. (62,000 assaulted yearly) and rising (that is one out of every nine), with 21,000 injured. Many are permently disabled. The FBI reports that on yearly average: 380 officers are the targets of unprovoked attacks by ambush, resulting in 21 law enforcement deaths. I am very confident in saying , that if a judge was killed every 54 hours, or 62,000 judges were assaulted annually, laws would be enacted overnight to severely penalize the offenders. It is a sad fact that in the majority of states, assaulting a police officer is only a misdemeanor offense, as in Oregon. "Police work is the only profession that gives you the test first, then the lesson". Here are some of the most prevalent and acute symptoms identified by police survivors: Feeling Lonely 75.2 Feeling Sad or Unhappy 70.4 Low Energy 68.3 Easily Hurt Feelings 64.3 Trouble Concentrating 56.3 Images that wont leave mind 53.9 Trouble remembering things 52.4 Feeling emotionally numb 52.4 Feeling Angry 51.6 Wanting care for themselves 51.2 Sleep Disturbances 50.8 Difficulty Making Decisions 47.6 (National Institute of Justice Research in Brief)