The number of law enforcement officers killed by guns dropped 14 percent this year, but all line-of-duty police deaths rose slightly.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said in a report Tuesday that 42 officers were killed this year by gunfire, compared with 49 last year.
The report says seven of those shooting deaths occurred during traffic stops.
A total of 124 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial officers were killed in 2015, a 4 percent increase over 2014. Fifty-two officers were killed in traffic incidents this year, compared with 49 in 2014.
The report comes amid a national debate about police conduct and law enforcement's treatment of black men, including 25-year-old Freddie Gray. Gray died in Baltimore in April from injuries received in the back of a police transport van.
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