The death of a Georgia State Patrol trooper, shot twice on Monday night as he tried to make a traffic stop, is the latest reminder of how dangerous police work can be. Unfortunately, the deaths of Chadwick LeCroy, and of members of other law enforcement agencies, are not a rare event. Far from it.
The number of police fatalities increased by 37 percent this year, according to a report from an agency that tracks such deaths. It was, then, an especially dangerous year for the men and the women whose job it is to serve and to protect us.
Deaths of law enforcement officers in the line of duty rose from 117 in 2009 to about 160 as of Tuesday, reported the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Foundation. The 2010 total does not include the death of LeCroy. The increase is troubling since it reverses a welcome decline in deaths last year.
The 2009 total of 117 offers killed in the line of duty was a half-century low. That gave some hope to law enforcement agencies and concerned citizens that new awareness of the police and the work they do had created an atmosphere that made it safer for those in uniform. The current number, to be adjusted after the first of the year, indicates that is not the case.
The significant increase in deaths is troubling, though social scientists point out that it is more in keeping with past totals than the one last year. The tally of police deaths has been above 160 five times since 2000, with 240 reported in 2004. Indeed, the yearly toll regularly was above 200 in the 1970s and in the 1920s.
The number of local, state and federal officers shot to death rose from 49 in 2009 to 59 in 2010. The number killed in traffic incidents rose from 51 in 2009 to 73 so far this year. Social scientists have theories but are hard-pressed to explain why the number of deaths rose so precipitously this year.
The economy might have played a role, some social scientists say. Others say it is a general decline in respect for law enforcement. Still others say it was because of an increase in so-called “cluster killing” incidents in which more than one officer was killed. There’s some merit in each explanation, but the truth is, no one knows for sure if the increase this year is an aberration or the start of an ominous trend.
Some states – Texas, California, Illinois, Florida and Georgia – are more dangerous for police than others, but deaths also occurred in 25 other states and Puerto Rico during the year. Clearly, it is hard to pinpoint why so many police officers die in the line of duty each year. What is certain, though, is that many view their work as a calling rather than a job. As a group, they deserve far more respect, appreciation and pay than they receive for the dangerous work they do.