The 2024 mid-year regulation enforcement fatalities report launched by the Nationwide Legislation Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) on July 10 reveals that 71 federal, state, county, municipal, tribal and U.S. territories officers have died within the line of obligation within the first half of 2024, representing a 15% enhance in comparison with the identical time interval final yr.
“Our organization exists to honor the fallen, so every death is a gut punch, not just to us as a memorial fund, but to everyone who is a part of the law enforcement profession,” NLEOMF CEO Invoice Alexander says. “To see the numbers rising is troubling. It causes me to reflect on how NLEOMF can improve on one of our other missions: making it safer for the men and women in uniform by creating programs and best practices based on data reports like this one.”
Alexander pointed to 2 findings from the report that he discovered most regarding, certainly one of which was a startling 136% enhance in traffic-related fatalities from the primary half of 2023 to 2024.
NLEOMF.org
“A big chunk of the traffic-related fatalities are related to officers being struck by a vehicle while out of their police car,” he says. “The officers could have been helping pedestrians, directing traffic or conducting a traffic stop when they were tragically hit and killed.”
Moreover, whereas the 28 firearms-related fatalities up to now in 2024 is just not a dramatic enhance from final yr’s 26, Alexander believes the true extent of the menace is masked by the excessive variety of officers who had been shot and will have been killed, however fortunately survived. Based on the Fraternal Order of Police, 193 officers have been shot within the line of obligation as of June 30.
“When you think about that number, which doesn’t even include the number of times someone shot at an officer but missed, it’s easy to see why this is so concerning,” Alexander says. “While 28 officers being struck and killed is staggering and tragic, I think it’s masking the fact that literally hundreds of police officers this year have been shot at by someone who had the intention of killing them. Twenty-eight is not really doing justice in highlighting to the public the kind of danger law enforcement is in every day they’re on duty.”
The report additionally contains an “other” class, which incorporates all kinds of health-related deaths and different line-of-duty fatalities. Seventeen officer deaths are listed on this class, together with two officers who had been crushed to demise and two who had been stabbed.
“Those four deaths, in combination with the 28 who were shot and killed, stand out to me in a way that could not easily be highlighted if you weren’t looking at the intricate numbers of the report,” Alexander says. “To be beaten and stabbed to death is just horrible. It’s a different flavor of violence that is worth talking about.”
To view the whole mid-year preliminary regulation enforcement officers fatalities report, go to tinyurl.com/592c8t5v.
Nationwide Legislation Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
Established in 1984, the Nationwide Legislation Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund is a nonprofit group devoted to honoring the fallen, telling the story of American regulation enforcement, and making it safer for many who serve. The primary pillar of this mission, the Nationwide Legislation Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., honors the names of the entire 23,785 officers who’ve died within the line of obligation to this point all through U.S. historical past. Moreover, NLEOMF maintains and publishes complete particulars on the circumstances surrounding official line-of-duty deaths. The Officer Security and Wellness pillar makes use of that information, coupled with best-practice program fashions, to provide programming directed at options to enhance survivability and improve wellness. NLEOMF’s third pillar, the Nationwide Legislation Enforcement Museum (LawEnforcementMuseum.org) is dedicated to preserving the historical past of American regulation enforcement and sharing the experiences of service and sacrifice for generations to return.
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