More Police Officers Die From The Coronavirus Than Doctors Or Nurses-Why?

Highlights

101 police officers have died from exposure to the Coronavirus per the Fraternal Order Of Police.

Is society recognizing their and their family’s sacrifice?

National Police Week is celebrated on May 15. In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls, as National Police Week. National Police Week is a collaborative effort of many organizations dedicated to honoring America’s law enforcement community.

Author

Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.

Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of award-winning public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of criminology and public affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Certificate of Advanced Study-Johns Hopkins University. Aspiring drummer.

Article

We love our first responders and those heroically working in medical centers to address the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic. God bless the firefighters, paramedics, doctors and nurses who risk everything to make our lives safer.

There have been hundreds of media reports citing the justifiable fears of retail workers and delivery people.

And while a couple of national news publications have documented the number of police officer infections and deaths, I doubt that the average American is fully aware of the courage of law enforcement officers as they are exposed to and die from the virus.

Police And Correctional Officer Deaths

101 police officers have died from the Coronavirus-COVID-19 pandemic per the Fraternal Order Of Police. See notes at the bottom of this article as to their data.

To place this into context, twenty-seven police officers have died in the performance of the jobs since the beginning of 2020 per the FBI, but not due to the Coronavirus.

6,100 prison staff members have tested positive. Twenty-two correctional officer deaths have been reported, The Marshall Project.

Thirty-two paramedics and fire firefighters have died die to COVID-19, Firerescue1.

No one is bothering to document the number of police officers infected, see Time Magazine for a partial overview of state and local police infections.

Doctors And Nurses

In the past two months, more than 9,000 US healthcare workers have contracted the coronavirus, according to an April report from the Center for Disease Control.

The vast majority of healthcare workers reported that their symptoms were mild, but several hundred had cases serious enough to warrant a hospital stay, and at least 27 US healthcare workers have died from the disease.

The number reported by the CDC is likely incomplete. Earlier this month, the National Nurses United union reported that at least 48 nurses have died from the coronavirus.

Worldwide, the number of healthcare workers who have succumbed to coronavirus exceeds 100, Business Insider.

Newsweek states that more than 200 doctors and nurses worldwide have died fighting the Coronavirus.

Why The High Number Of Police Deaths?

Being a cop means that it’s impossible to stay six feet away from people in some form of extreme distress. I’ve seen a multitude of police officers literally covered in blood due to horrific automobile accidents (cops are usually the first to arrive) or crime scenes. There is no social distancing at traumatic events.

Police officers simply do not have the luxury of being clothed in protective gowns with face shields, masks, and gloves. You cannot drive at high speeds to get to a choking child with plastic gloves on. You can’t control a drunken, violent husband who has just beat his wife with a frying pan (my first domestic violence incident) dressed in a plastic gown.

We are all familiar with the photo of “an unmasked man, mid-scream, yelling within inches of two police officers” at a social distancing protest at the state capitol in Michigan, USA Today.

Police officers have been sent to thousands of events where people were violating social distancing orders, thus exposing themselves to endless opportunities for infection for themselves and their families. Officers don’t have the salaries of the health care profession thus there are few to no alternatives (i.e., renting a mobile home and parking it in the driveway) as to keeping family members safe.

From lost children to crimes in progress, it’s simply impossible for officers to stay safe from criminal offenders or victims or people in need.

Conclusion

Society owes a tremendous vote of thanks to all on the front lives of the fight against the pandemic.

But the number of police officer deaths is beyond tragic and deserves more recognition than what’s currently offered. Cops have always seen themselves as sacrificial, expendable, underfunded, and underequipped entities who do society’s bidding to maintain safety and order.

But per the FBI, the volume of citizens applying for gun purchases is exceeding all records as uncertainty regarding the pandemic continues. The public instinctively understands that the virus is disabling or killing a lot of police officers.

Without cops, society can unravel quickly and people will be left to their own circumstances. Maybe then people will appreciate police officers willing to be exposed or die for their safety.

See More

See more articles on crime and justice at Crime in America.

Most Dangerous Cities/States/Countries at Most Dangerous Cities.

US Crime Rates at Nationwide Crime Rates.

National Offender Recidivism Rates at Offender Recidivism.

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Notes From The Fraternal Order Of Police

While COVID-19 is without a doubt a public health crisis, it is also a public safety crisis. The FOP knew at the beginning of the pandemic that law enforcement officers on the front lines combating this pandemic—more than 90% of whom will be responding from local and State agencies—would be increasingly vulnerable to contracting the virus. COVID-19 makes no distinction between age, race or gender. As we had feared, the virus has claimed the lives of many, and now includes a growing number of law enforcement officers.

Please Note: The following list has been compiled using media and news reports of law enforcement officers who have died due to COVID-19. The numbers listed include all reported COVID-19 deaths—not all have been verified. The FOP’s goal is to maintain an accurate and up-to-date list and is working around the clock to support our members as we all respond to the national pandemic. To ensure that every officer is accounted for, if you are aware of an officer that has died in the line of duty due to COVID-19, please feel free to send an email to Mark McDonald with the officer’s information and a link to either a media report or obituary.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us via email at media@fop.net.

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