The number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty decreased from 2014 to 2015, according to preliminary data released by the FBI Monday.
Forty-one officers were killed in the line of duty in 2015, the FBI said, a 20 percent decrease from the 51 officers killed in 2014.
The FBI noted that 45 officers died as result of accidents that occurred in line-duty. That number is the same as the statistic for 2014.
Another 29 died as a result of automobile accidents.
The data comes amid comments by FBI Director James Comey that the so-called “Ferguson effect” is leading to less aggressive policing and a higher murder rate in many U.S. cities.
“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?'” he told reporters, according to the New York Times. However, Comey did say he could offer no statical proof to support his claim.
Full data on officers killed in 2015 will be available in the coming months.
