Covid-19 was the leading cause of death among U.S. police officers in 2021, a report says.
For the second year in a row, Covid-19 was the leading cause of death for law enforcement officers in the United States, according to a report released on Tuesday by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
A total of 458 officers died in the line of duty in the country last year, making it the deadliest year in more than 90 years and a 55 percent increase from 2020, according to preliminary data compiled by the organization. Of those, it found that 301 federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement officers had died because of Covid-19.
“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.
Felony assaults were responsible for the deaths of 84 officers last year, including 62 officers killed with firearms, the report said. Fifty-eight were killed in traffic-related incidents while working the roadways. Both the number of deaths from firearm assaults and traffic-related fatalities had risen from the previous year.
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Last fall, it was reported that more than 460 American law enforcement officers had died from Covid-19 infections tied to their work since the start of the pandemic. With no comprehensive accounting of how many officers had been sickened with the virus, departments from coast to coast reported large outbreaks in the ranks. Vaccinations, which have proven to be effective in preventing severe illness and death, have remained a hard sell for some officers.
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In October, New York City’s largest police union sued over the city’s vaccine mandate. The Police Benevolent Association of New York said it opposed a vaccine mandate for officers that does not allow an option of being tested weekly 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.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/us/police-officer-deaths-covid.html
I wonder were those officers got their news from?
= new reply since forum marked as read
