Rejoicing over a decline in police deaths is admirable but requires caution

Good morning Breck:

Rejoicing over a decline in police deaths is admirable but requires caution. Care is required not to lull police leaders or their communities into a false belief that the dangers facing police officers are on the wane. A false sense about the state of officer safety could impact funding decisions in a manner that may actually place officers at increased risk.

Whenever we talk about officer safety, including police deaths, it is essential to tell the entire story - police disabilities and deaths. While there is no conclusive proof the anecdotal evidence supports a belief that the number of officers being disabled is increasing at an alarming rate. It is by the Grace of God and the availability of emergency medical services, an increased numbers of enhanced emergency rooms and more trauma centers that collectively account for more officers being saved from a fate of death. This does not mean that an officer and his or her family escape the horrors of suffering a life altering disability - all too frequently a career ending event.

SafeShield will provide desperately needed information about police disabilities that will augment the FBI LEOKA annual report to provide a clearer understanding about the dangers police officers face. The whole story must be told if we hope to decrease police disabilities and deaths.

RWM

A Deadly Three Months for U.S. Law Enforcement

As thousands of mourners packed the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul or watched on a huge screen erected in Logan Circle across the street, the Philadelphia Police Department laid to rest another fallen hero Tuesday morning. The funeral of Sergeant Patrick McDonald was a sad and poignant end to a deadly three months for American law enforcement.

After declining sharply during the first half of 2008, officer fatalities jumped over the last three months. Between July 1 and September 30, 2008, 42 U.S. law enforcement officers died in the line of duty, according to preliminary data from the NLEOMF. That translates into about one officer killed every 52 hours nationwide. By contrast, from January 1 through June 30 of this year, 61 officers died - or about one fatality every 72 hours. And not just the number, but also the brutality of some of the killings, seems to have intensified of late.

Source NLEOMF - October 1, 2008