Chicago police uniforms are pictured October 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. A new preliminary report says 458 US law enforcement officers died in 2021, citing COVID-19 as the leading cause of death for the second year in a row.
Image by Scott Olson / Getty
hide captions
switch captions
Image by Scott Olson / Getty
Chicago police uniforms are pictured October 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. A new preliminary report says 458 US law enforcement officers died in 2021, citing COVID-19 as the leading cause of death for the second year in a row.
Image by Scott Olson / Getty
Last year was the deadliest year for active law enforcement in nearly a century, with COVID-19 identified as the leading cause of death for the second year in a row.
About 458 local, state, tribal, and federal officers have died in the line of duty by 2021, according to to a preliminary report from the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum (NLEOMF). This is up 55% from the previous year’s 295 and is the highest total since 1930.
“This year’s statistics demonstrate that America’s frontline law enforcement officers continue to battle the deadly effects of the Covid-19 pandemic across the country,” the report said. “Preliminary data suggests that some 301 officer deaths have been identified as caused by Covid this year, and the number appears to be increasing almost daily.”
The death toll of COVID-19 officers is high and expected to increase
COVID-19 related deaths – there are 301 – was the leading cause of death last year, like they were in 2020 when at least 182 officers died from the virus. That’s a 65% increase in a year.
A map in the report indicates that officer deaths related to COVID-19 have been identified in 32 states, with the highest concentration in California and southern states including Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
“It has been reported to the NLEOMF that these officers have died as a result of direct exposure to the virus in the course of their official duties,” the report said.
NLEOMF emphasizes that this number is preliminary and expects it to continue to grow. That’s in part because there are some cases where it’s unclear whether an employee contracted the virus on the job.
The organization says its COVID-19 Task Force is working with federal and local agencies to determine if other officers have died after coming into direct contact with people infected with COVID- 19 while working in their official capacity or not. And it says that is clearly still happening.
“Law enforcement officers across the country continue to be exposed to the Covid-19 virus in the course of their day-to-day duties; as a result, the death toll from duty is sadly increasing.”
Law enforcement groups have resisted vaccine mandates
Of course, the COVID-19 vaccine and boosters provides protection against serious illness and death, even from the highly infectious omicron variant.
However, the police departments and unions in the city. nationwide — which includes New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and Phoenix — has opposed mandatory vaccination requirements for public employees, filed lawsuits and threatened to resign.
Plus, not all states have them. In Georgia, for example, where vaccine mandates are scarce, at least 33 policemen died from the virus since november.
Some state and local leaders have even used the lack of vaccine authorization as a motivation for them to make recruitment efforts law enforcement officers from other parts of the country.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee encouraged officers from other states to join the Tennessee Highway Patrol with the promise not to “get between you and your doctor,” while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis talked about signing legislation that would award $500 to unvaccinated officers who move to their state for work.
Gun and traffic deaths also increased last year
Firearms are the second-biggest cause of death, with 61 officers being felon killed by firearms in 2021, a 36% increase from the previous year. Nineteen of those officers were killed in “ambush attacks,” which the report said was also a significant increase.
2021 also saw a significant increase in traffic-related deaths, with 58 officers killed in incidents such as vehicle collisions and motorcycle crashes – a 38% increase from the previous year. .
“accidental” deaths – many of which occurred while officers were investigating vehicle collisions or helping motorists on the side of the road – rose 93% during that time.
The other officers’ deaths are attributed to beatings, September 11-related illness, and stabbing.
