According to a Tuesday report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Covid-19 was the leading cause death for law enforcement officers in the United States.
According to preliminary data compiled and reported by the organization, 458 law enforcers died in the line-of-duty in the United States last year. This makes it the deadliest year for more than 90 years. It also marks a 55 percent rise over 2020. Covid-19 was responsible for the deaths of 301 federal and state, tribal, and local law enforcement officers.
“It has been reported to NLEOMF that these officers have died due to direct exposure to the virus during the commission of their official duties,” the report said.
According to the report, felony assaults were the cause of the deaths last year of 84 officers, with 62 officers being killed by firearms. Fifty-eight officers died in traffic-related accidents while on the roads. Both the number of fatalities from firearm assaults and those related to traffic had increased over the previous year.
According to the report, heart attacks, strokes, and 9/11 related illnesses were responsible for the deaths of the remaining officers. Other officers were also attacked, drowned and stabbed to death. One officer was drowned in floodwaters and another was struck by lightning.
In the three decades before the pandemic, the organization’s annual tally of officers killed in the line of duty surpassed 200 only twice: once in 2001 and once in 2007. It was 300 that it reached above in 1930.
Although there were hundreds of Covid-19-related officers deaths, the report is preliminary. Its authors expected that agencies hadn’t yet reported a substantial number. “Law enforcement officers nationwide continue to be exposed to the Covid-19 virus in the course of their daily assignments,” it said. “Therefore, the number of line-of-duty deaths is sadly ever increasing.”
Infections caused by Covid-19 in the work of American law enforcement officers since the outbreak of the pandemic led to the deaths of more than 460 Americans. Departments from coast to coast reported large outbreaks of the virus among their officers, but there was no comprehensive accounting. Some officers have struggled to accept vaccinations, even though they have been proven effective in preventing severe illness or death.
As local governments have been implementing mandatory vaccines for workers in recent months, some police officers and unions have resisted, threatening resignations or legal action.
In October, New York City’s largest police union sued over the city’s vaccine mandate. The Police Benevolent Association of New York stated that it opposed a mandate for vaccines for officers that doesn’t allow the option of being tested every week instead of being vaccinated. A federal judge this week dismissed a lawsuit filed by several Los Angeles police officers who had sued over the city’s vaccine mandate.
Source: NY Times
