WASHINGTON -- The FBI says the number of police officers slain in the line of duty fell sharply last year.
Bureau statistics list 41 law enforcement officers killed in 2008. The list includes one FBI agent, Sam Hicks, who was shot and killed during a drug raid outside Pittsburgh.
Felony killings of police officers haven't been that low since 1999, although police officer support groups - which use different standards to count officer killings - say the number of officers killed hasn't been this low since the 1960s.
In addition to felony killings, the FBI said 68 law enforcement officers were killed in accidents last year, most of them involving car crashes.
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