2009 state 'year-in-review' reports have been chock full of employment woes, but unexpected bad news came in the form of workplace violence statistics in the state of Washington. Workplace deaths from violence rose to their highest level in ten years, with an unusually high-number of police officer deaths. Six police officers were homicide victims in Washington in 2009, and seven other employees, including a taxi-driver, an armored-car driver, a musician, and several retail clerks were suicide victims, making a total of 13 homicide deaths. The last highest workplace homicide number was in 2004, with 11 violent deaths. There were 62 deaths from workplace injuries overall in the state in 2009 which represents a drop from the 2008 number of 69. In fact, the overall number was the lowest seen in the state in a decade.
See "Deaths from workplace violence climbed in state in 2009", John de Leon & Susan Gilmore, The Seattle Times, January 31, 2010