Comparisons were made of incidents from 1996 – 1998 to 2006 – 2008. The authors noted that the officers involved in assaults, homicides while on duty, accidents and injuries caused by a suspect actually decreased during these years. It is unknown why there was a decrease in those years, but the trend of officer assault and homicide is increasing. It appears that criminals have less reluctance for violence involving police officers than they did before 2008.
Kachurik, Ruiz, and Staub (2013) conducted a study comparing the deaths of single and married officers. The inferences from the study are single officers are killed more often than married officers are, and officers with a family were less likely to be gunned down during their working hours. Self-protection, when one has children at home may perhaps be an automatic reaction. Responsibilities such as having a family may entice an officer to practice more caution when making decisions during his/her shift on duty (Kachurik et al., 2013). Moreover, an officer who does not have children has more time on his/her hands and may offer to work more shifts to fill in his/her free time. "Greater time spent on the job may expose an officer to possible dangerous situations" (Kachurik et al., 2013, p.121). The authors believe officers who work more shifts increase their potential for danger. More hours on the job increases the chances of being in a dangerous situation and a possible shooting. This would put an officer that volunteers to work additional hours at a higher risk, simply because of working more hours.
Furthermore, Kachurik et al. (2013) indicated that being a law enforcement officer has many dangers, not the least of which is dying in the line of duty. Many have examined the why and how police officers are murdered. People are of the misconception that shoot-outs are the main cause of law enforcement death, but research does not concur (Kachurik et al.
