Washington - Fewer police officers were killed in the US this year, but the number of deaths remains high despite a dramatic drop in the overall crime rate, according to preliminary statistics released yesterday.
During 1998, 155 federal, state and local law enforcement officers were killed compared to 160 last year, said the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and the Concerns of Police Survivors.
The Justice Department announced on Sunday that the violent crime rate in the United States had fallen almost 7 per cent in 1997 to the lowest level since the National Crime Victimisation Survey was started 25 years ago.