During the same interval, 630 police officers from state, local, tribal and other federal agencies died from gunshot wounds while doing their duty, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
Why do most police killings in the United States occur outside the FBI, which calls itself “one of the world’s leading security and crime-fighting forces”?
Some of the answers are expected: Almost 90% of the country’s police officers work in local and state police forces. They make more arrests. They are much more likely to encounter potentially violent suspects on a daily basis – be it for a traffic stop, called domestic violence or another emergency.
But there are other factors that may explain why fewer officers die from gunshots, say law enforcement experts and former agents.
FBI agents are more likely to build cases incrementally than respond to a 911 call. They often work on task forces from multiple agencies and generally have more time to plan their search and safe execution warrants. They build a case against an individual and assess the danger that he or she can pose. All of this reduces the likelihood that they will draw or receive a weapon.
Still, the job is dangerous and plans can end in tragedy, as happened on Tuesday when Special Agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger and other local officers and police tried to execute a search warrant in Sunrise, Florida, an apartment where suspect was barricaded. He also died, although the circumstances were not disclosed.
The Florida case, according to authorities, involved alleged violent crimes against children – the most vulnerable in society. Federal convictions for such crimes can lead to lengthy prison sentences and some suspects may feel they have a lot to lose, experts say.
“These people may think they have big, complicated and important lives and they can have a fraudulent exterior,” said Andrew McCabe, a former deputy director of the FBI and current senior police analyst with CNN.
Taking a strategic versus tactical approach
While all law enforcement work is inherently dangerous, there are differences in the scenarios that FBI agents and local law enforcement officers typically face.
“The latter’s jobs are more tactical. They usually don’t have a plan when they get to the shift and don’t know what their next call will be,” said James Pasco, Executive Director of the National Fraternal Order of the Police. “The circumstances are usually more volatile and he cannot control the circumstances.” Often, they need to be in a reactive mode.
Federal agents, on the other hand, are often involved in complex cases, including cyberterrorism, domestic terrorism, online fraud and crimes against children, such as pornography and trafficking.
They are proactive in collecting evidence, following clues and tips and contacting other law enforcement agencies.
Local police departments also have investigators, but the FBI’s trademark is in-depth investigations of individuals who can be anywhere – from the street to a remote refuge abroad.
“You have the ability to do your homework before an operation,” said Lazaro “Larry” Cosme, national president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. “This does not mean that it will be a foolproof operation.”
FBI agents, when attacking a suspect, have an accurate plan and contingencies, experts say. And it is usually they who decide the time and place of the search or arrest. Often, they move with overwhelming force.
“They usually control the environment wherever they go,” says Josh Campbell, Security correspondent for CNN and former FBI agent. “It is rare for officers to fire their weapons and be shot.”
But sometimes an operation meets the unknown. There will never be a “complete understanding of all threats,” says McCabe.
Agents try to reduce the risk of armed confrontation
Special agents Alfin, 36, and Schwartzenberger, 43, are being remembered for their efforts to combat sexual crimes against children. They worked at the FBI’s Miami office in a unit that investigates online predators, child pornography, sexual abuse, kidnappings and violent attacks.
An hour before Tuesday morning, they and other police officers went to a luxury apartment in Sunrise to carry out a search and seizure warrant.
This operation typically involves local police blocking the streets and increasing legitimacy, says Campbell.
Going so early has its advantages for law enforcement: they usually have the element of surprise. The subject may be groggy. He or she may have had little time to formulate resistance. The objective is to neutralize the situation.
“In general, this will result in fewer violent confrontations,” says Pasco.
It is not known whether the FBI knew that the suspect in Sunrise had guns. Details of what led to the shooting were not available. The FBI did not release an account of what happened during the shooting.
The sniper opened fire and Alfin and Schwartzenberger were killed; three agents were injured. Two were taken to a hospital with several gunshot wounds and later released. The third agent was treated on the spot.
Normally, experts and the FBI say, the execution of warrants ends without incident. “We execute many of these warrants in these types of cases across the country, every day,” said McCabe.
But with the profusion of child pornography, “we are receiving more people who are reacting violently or unpredictably to a search warrant,” he says.
The 1986 shooting led to more firepower, training
The last agent shot to death before Alfin and Schwartzenberger was Special Agent Samuel S. Hicks, killed in 2008 while trying to serve an arrest warrant in a drug trafficking case in a house near Pittsburgh.
Most of the people listed at the end of the Wall of Honor died as a result of illnesses related to the response to the 9/11 attacks.
All of this in order to protect the health and life of agents.
Police officers died last year from various causes, including vehicle crashes, heart attacks and gunshots. But more died of Covid-19 than all other causes combined, with 145 of the 264 deaths attributed to the virus, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
‘Our chosen profession is fraught with dangers’
The FBI is conducting an investigation into what happened in Florida.
“You owe it to the patriots who gave their lives” to see if there are lessons to be learned or ways for agents to better protect themselves, says McCabe.
The loss of two dedicated agents was a blow to the bureau in the stomach. Law enforcement and others are in mourning.
William Beller, the chapter president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, told CNN on Wednesday: “We are all brothers and sisters in law enforcement.” Overcome with emotion, he said: “All I know is that I managed to hug my children today” and left in tears.
Services for the dead agents took place over the weekend at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
It is important for people to know that while being an FBI agent is exciting, it is incredibly difficult and dangerous work, says McCabe.
“Moments like this bring reality to them in a very visceral way,” he says. “It will not stop them. They will not hand over their weapons tomorrow.”
CNN’s Eric Levenson, Travis Caldwell, Rosa Flores, Steve Almasy, Jason Hanna, Harmeet Kaur and Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report.