On average, one local, state or federal law enforcement officer was killed in the line of duty every 54 hours in the United States last year. At that rate, 162 officers died. It doesn’t seem that 2011 will be any safer. By midday Monday, 14 law enforcement officers had been killed on duty this year. Clearly, it is dangerous work: 10 officers were shot — two died — in four different states in a 24-hour period from Sunday to Monday.
That’s always been the case. More than 19,000 law enforcement officers are thought to have perished in the line of duty in the United States. The earliest known fatality occurred in 1792, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group. The numbers have waxed and waned over the decades, but the recent trend is up, though deaths declined in the two years prior to 2010.
There were 117 fatalities in 2009, a 50-year low, according to the Washington group. An increase of 45 from 2009 to 2010, prompted in part by multiple-fatality shootings, understandably exacerbates worries about the safety of on-duty officers. Recent events are a case in point.
* On Monday in St. Petersburg, Fla., a gunman opened fire on two city officers and a deputy U.S. marshal trying to arrest him on a warrant. The two officers were killed and the marshal was shot twice, but is recovering. The gunman was killed in the exchange of gunfire during which more than 100 rounds were fired, according to authorities.
* Also on Monday, a Lincoln City, Ore., police officer was critically wounded when he was shot during a traffic stop. The officer had pulled a driver over for speeding when he was gunned down. At this writing, the suspect was still at large.
* On Sunday, a man walked into a Detroit police precinct and opened fire, He wounded four officers before he was shot and killed by police.
* Last Thursday in Florida, two Miami-Dade County detectives were killed by a murder suspect they were trying to arrest. The suspect was killed by another detective.
Gunplay that results in the death of police officers gets the most public attention. That’s to be expected. It is violent and it is on the increase — about 20 percent from 2009 to 2010.
Traffic fatalities also increased last year. They were the leading cause of fatalities among officers for the 13th consecutive year. Death is always a constant threat to law enforcement personnel — and it can come in many ways and places.
Chattanooga and Hamilton County are not immune to the dangers of police work. A law enforcement memorial in the 600 block of Market Street honors all who work in law enforcement but specifically recognizes the men and women killed in the line of duty here. There’s no quick remedy to the deadly toll policing can exact. Changing and tightening gun and traffic laws certainly would help, but the dangers inherent in the work will never be eliminated.
Police officers risk their live to serve and protect others. It is a calling relatively few accept. We owe a debt difficult to repay to those who willingly and courageously do so.