The number of law enforcement officers felled while on official duty in 1999 dropped to the lowest number in 36 years, according to a new report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

• Forty-two federal, state and local officers were slain that year -- down from 61 in 1998 and 79 in 1994.

• The lowest previously killed in the line of duty was 53 in 1965.

• The FBI didn't start keeping the records until 1963.

• Of the 42 who died in 1999, 23 belonged to city police departments, 13 from county police and sheriff's departments, five from state agencies and one was a federal employee.

A total of 658 federal, state and local law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty between 1990 and 1999.

Twenty of the killings occurred in the South, followed by 11 in the West, six in the Midwest and five in the Northeast.

Texas and Georgia led the nation with five each, followed by California with four.

Source: Jerry Seper, "Lawmen Killed on Duty Down to a 36-Year Low," Washington Times, March 16, 2001.

For FBI report
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/killed/99leoka.pdf