HONOLULU (KHON2) — There are more than 800,000 law enforcement officers in the nation, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEMM). Since the first recorded police death in 1786, the nonprofit said there have been more than 23,000 officers killed in the line of duty.

According to preliminary data, 458 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2021, marking a 55% increase from the same period the year before. The report said this was the highest total line-of-duty officer deaths since 1930. This year, there have been 91 officer fatalities between Jan. 1 and May 9.

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The statistics show that being a police officer remains a dangerous occupation. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted staffing shortages across every job field, and police departments are no exception. Law enforcement agencies must offer enough incentives to attract and retain officers, which include compensation, quality of work environment, among other factors.

WalletHub published a new study to determine the best states to pursue a career in law enforcement by comparing 30 key indicators of “police-friendliness.” WalletHub’s data set ranges from the median income to police deaths per 1,000 officers to state and local police-protection expenses per capita.

Source: WalletHub

Best States to Be a Cop

Overall Rank	State	Total Score	Opportunity & Competition	Law Enforcement Training Requirements	Job Hazards & Protections
1	Connecticut	59.91	18	1	7
2	California	57.97	16	2	13
3	Illinois	56.95	5	6	21
4	District of Columbia	56.66	1	3	49
5	Maryland	56.34	13	7	8
6	Massachusetts	55.46	3	12	14
7	Minnesota	52.96	6	18	4
8	Washington	52.88	4	13	20
9	Colorado	52.65	7	8	31
10	Ohio	51.93	26	5	26
11	Maine	50.99	20	17	3
12	Georgia	48.44	28	10	24
13	New York	46.72	2	40	9
14	Tennessee	46.64	37	4	41
15	Delaware	46.57	9	24	19
16	South Dakota	45.53	23	9	38
17	New Hampshire	44.76	11	44	1
18	Texas	44.37	29	11	39
19	New Jersey	44.21	8	39	6
20	Pennsylvania	43.75	27	26	18
21	Iowa	43.58	10	30	16
22	Indiana	43.35	41	14	30
23	Virginia	42.98	24	28	11
24	Rhode Island	42.93	48	21	10
25	Vermont	42.86	31	38	2
26	Michigan	42.73	25	23	29
27	Oklahoma	41.53	32	15	45
28	Utah	41.24	49	25	5
29	North Carolina	40.61	36	27	22
30	New Mexico	39.85	19	16	51
31	Nebraska	39.62	17	46	12
32	Wisconsin	39.52	30	31	25
33	Idaho	39.33	45	20	32
34	Arizona	39.08	22	32	27
35	Missouri	38.70	46	19	33
36	Florida	38.41	33	42	15
37	North Dakota	37.51	21	49	17
38	Kansas	37.46	14	34	37
39	Oregon	36.99	34	41	23
40	Wyoming	36.76	43	22	40
41	Alabama	34.57	15	47	36
42	Kentucky	34.16	40	29	42
43	South Carolina	33.74	35	33	44
44	Louisiana	32.39	12	43	48
45	Montana	31.87	38	35	46
46	Nevada	31.02	39	48	34
47	Mississippi	29.38	50	37	43
48	West Virginia	29.24	47	45	35
49	Alaska	26.91	42	50	47
50	Hawaii	26.03	44	51	28
51	Arkansas	25.56	51	36	50

Courtesy: WalletHub.com

Hawaii comes second to last on the list and is among the states with the lowest median income growth for law enforcement officers.

* Note: Law enforcement officers include police and sheriff officers, detectives and criminal investigators.

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Data used to create this ranking were collected from U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, FBI, Projections Central State Occupational Projections, Council for Community and Economic Research, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Urban Institute, Institute for American Police Reform, The Officer Down Memorial Page, Mapping Police Violence, Murder Accountability Project, Ballotpedia, The National 911 Program, North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Blue Alert System, Institute of Criminal Justice Training Reform, AP News and the Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation.

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Best States to Be a Cop

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