Law Enforcement Dedication 2016
Thanks to all who have answered the call to Law Enforcement!
In memory of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
2016 Line of Duty
Deaths: 133
(As of 12/3/2016)
9/11 related illness:
2
Aircraft accident: 1
Animal related: 1
Assault: 2
Automobile accident:
21
Drowned: 2
Duty related illness:
1
Fall: 1
Gunfire: 60
Gunfire (Accidental):
2
Heart attack: 6
Motorcycle accident: 7
Stabbed: 1
Struck by train: 1
Struck by vehicle: 9
Vehicle pursuit: 4
Vehicular assault: 12
By Gender
Male: 128
Female: 5
(Way too many, no
matter how you break it down.)
Average age: 41
Average tour of duty:
13 years, 6 months
Officer Down Memorial Page
“Remembering All of Law Enforcement’s Heroes.”
Dedicated to my Dad
Leroy D Brown
Cochise County Sheriff’s Department, AZ
EOW: 12/6/1969
This year has been interesting in that my schedule has again allowed me
to visit law enforcement memorials and attend events for those killed in the
line of duty. We were at both the COPS
Walk SW and Harpers Ferry. We also attended
National Police Week in May. What a blessing it has been! I am including some
images from places visited this year and in the past. I also provided links to organizations that
assist law enforcement and their families or have other connections. Enjoy the
images from over the years and please check out the various organizations that
support Law Enforcement.
Arizona Concerns of Police Survivors
Concerns of Police
Survivors, Inc. provides resources to assist in the rebuilding of the lives of
surviving families and affected co-workers of law enforcement officers killed
in the line of duty as determined by Federal criteria. Furthermore, C.O.P.S.
provides training to law enforcement agencies on survivor victimization issues
and educates the public of the need to support the law enforcement profession
and its survivors.
Concerns of Police Survivors
Each year, between 140 and 160 officers are killed in the line of duty,
and their families and co-workers are left to cope with the tragic loss. C.O.P.S. provides resources to help them
rebuild their shattered lives. There is
no membership fee to join C.O.P.S., for the price paid is already too high.
C.O.P.S. was organized in 1984 with 110 individual members. Today C.O.P.S. membership is over 37,000
survivors. Survivors include spouses,
children, parents, siblings, significant others, and affected co-workers of
officers killed in the line of duty according to Federal government
criteria. C.O.P.S. is governed by a
National Board of law enforcement survivors.
All programs and services are administered by the National Office in
Camdenton, Missouri. C.O.P.S. has over
50 Chapters nationwide that work with survivors at the grass-roots level.
Here are links to some
of my other Law Enforcement themed blogs:
You can go here to see
the complete list of my blog entries:
Project Blue Light
“We were all reminded that officers face evil and save lives every day,
indifferent to location and size of catastrophe. Please consider lighting a
blue light this week to honor all those in law enforcement that sacrifice their
lives to protect the innocent and their survivors they leave behind in order to
hold ‘the thin blue line’.”
"In valor there
is hope."
—Tacitus
"It is not how
these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they lived."
—Vivian Eney Cross,
Survivor
"The wicked flee
when no man pursueth: but the righteous are as bold as a lion."
—Proverbs 28:1
National Law
Enforcement Memorial – Washington, D.C.
The National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial is centered in the 400 block of E Street, NW,
Washington, DC and is the nation’s monument to law enforcement officers who
have died in the line of duty. Dedicated on October 15, 1991, the Memorial
honors federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have made the
ultimate sacrifice for the safety and protection of our nation and its people.
Visiting memorials is
therapeutic and intense for me. It is a
time to reflect, remember, regret, and revere.
Of course it hits me personally due to my own losses. My Dad, agency co-workers, and others who
take up the call understand things a bit differently than the rest of the
people, who in turn give the ultimate sacrifice. I also feel for those who have been left
behind to grieve and sort out the meaning of it all. The lives lost and experiences affect all
that are touched by the loss. No one
expects to not return from work, but all in this line of work know it is a
possibility. I have met a great number of incredible survivors, officers, and
others, whom care greatly.
Thank you to all who
choose this profession to protect and serve!
Video Link
Fraternal Order of
Police
Desert Waters Correctional Outreach
“Desert Waters Correctional Outreach (DWCO) is a Colorado-based
501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with the mission to promote the occupational,
personal and family well-being of the public safety workforce through the
provision of support, resources and customized data-driven solutions. While
serving all branches of public safety, Desert Waters specializes in the
wellness of corrections agencies and corrections staff of all disciplines.”
“Research shows that public safety personnel are negatively affected by
their routine exposure to occupational stressors. The toll of such repeated
exposure includes impaired job performance, high sick leave use, professional
misconduct, high turnover, physical illnesses, mental health conditions, and
suicide. These negative consequences inevitably translate into multi-faceted
high costs to individuals, families, and organizations. Data-driven strategies
to counter the toll of occupational stressors and to promote staff resilience
are both a moral imperative and a means to reduce individual and agency costs
and liability.”
"Carved on these
walls is the story of America, of a continuing quest to preserve both democracy
and decency, and to protect a national treasure that we call the American
dream."
—President George H.W.
Bush
Thanks to all who made
it through to the end. Feel free to comment and share. Prayers for all in Law Enforcement!
