According to the National Fraternal Order of Police, COVID-19 has killed 106 police officers in the line of duty. 30 of those have occurred in New York.
National Trainer, Travis Yates, tells us that with the nature of law enforcement and the inability of those in the profession to do what many Americans are able to do in the middle of this crisis to prevent exposure, line of duty deaths due to COVID-19 will likely increase.
As of today, COVID-19 is the leading cause of line of duty death in 2020 and has surpassed the line of duty deaths from 9/11 that occurred in that year.
The Officer Down Memorial Page list 72 police officers being killed by 9/11 in the year 2001.
COVID-19 has become the single largest cause of line of duty death in a year since the decade of the 1970’s when over 100 police officers were shot and killed each year.
On April 9, 2020, The Department of Justice announced that any law enforcement officer that dies from COVID-19 will be covered as the victim of a line of duty death. In a statement issued, “in the absence of evidence showing a different cause of death, BJA generally will find that the evidence shows a public safety officer who died while suffering from COVID-19 died as the direct and proximate result of COVID-19.”
The Fraternal Order of Police is the largest law enforcement labor organization in the United States, with
more than 350,000 members. With inconclusive guidance on this pressing matter, the FOP took the issue of COVID-19 and line of duty death benefits directly to the White House.
According to FOP President Patrick Yoes, “We are extremely grateful, as always, to President Trump for his
decisive leadership, especially in this time of crisis and for the exceptional team he has put together at the
Justice Department.”
