The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks produced the single deadliest day in the history of U.S. law enforcement — 72 officers killed — yet almost as many died in nonterrorist incidents during 2001 as violence against police rose to a four-year high.
The collapse of the World Trade Center in New York after the twin towers were struck by hijacked airliners accounted for 71 of last year's 142 law enforcement killings, the FBI reported Monday. The 72nd victim was a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer who died when a plane commandeered by terrorists crashed in a Pennsylvania field.