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Last updated on Friday, January 6, 2017
(UNDATED) - Law enforcement fatalities nationwide rose to their highest level in five years in 2016, with 135 officers killed in the line of duty.
According preliminary data to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the 135 officer fatalities in 2016 are a 10 percent increase over the 123 who died in the line of duty last year and is the highest total since 2011 when 177 officers who were killed.
Firearms-related incidents were the number one cause of death in 2016, with 64 officers shot and killed across the country.
That represents a significant spike - 56 percent - over the 41 officers killed by gunfire in 2015.
Of the 64 shooting deaths of officers this year, 21 were the result of ambush-style attacks--the highest total in more than two decades.
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