US police fatalities jump 37 percent in 2010

ATLANTA - The number of police officers who died in the line of duty this year is up 37 percent from 2009.

The data released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund on Tuesday are for the year up to Dec. 28.

They show 160 officers died in the line of duty across more than 30 states and Puerto Rico.

That was up from 117 officers in 2009, a 50-year low that encouraged police groups.

Fifty-nine officers were killed by gunfire in 2010, while 73 officers died in traffic incidents.

The group said there more so-called cluster killings of two or more officers at a single time, helping raise the toll.