Number of law enforcement officers killed in line of duty increases 14% so far this year

TAMPA, Fla. - A typical day for law enforcement can turn dangerous in a matter of seconds, and the number of officers killed in the line of duty has increased by 14% already this year.

Law enforcement officers run toward danger, and sometimes they are not spared.

"We’re already at a disadvantage going into a situation that we don’t know anything about, just whatever’s provided to us that the call taker has gotten from whoever’s calling," said Jonathan Vazquez, president of the Suncoast Police Benevolent Association and a St. Petersburg police officer.

On Wednesday two Connecticut police officers were shot and killed in an ambush attack, and on Thursday a teen shot and killed an off-duty Raleigh, North Carolina police officer who was on his way to work. On Oct. 4, Polk County Deputy Blane Lane was inadvertently shot and killed while serving a warrant.

"When it personally affects your agency with deputies that, you know, I've been here long enough, it's like one of my children being killed in the line of duty," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

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The Officer Down Memorial Page tracks line of duty deaths across the country, and latest numbers show deaths from gunfire are up 14% so far this year. Vazquez said it’s tough to hear.

"It’s definitely concerning. I think we had 53 officers killed in the line of duty with gunfire so far this year alone, and it just seems like it’s not stopping anytime soon," said Vazquez. "It seems like people are out there, and they don’t care about the law enforcement officers, and they don’t care about the ripple effect it has not only with the officer, but the officer’s family, and the officer’s extended family and then the family of law enforcement."

The Suncoast PBA pushes for grief counseling to help officers through tragedy, Vazquez said.

"There is no easy way to get over it. I think it’s a process that sometimes spans throughout your entire career and even afterwards," said Vazquez.

Counseling helps, and Polk Sheriff Judd said so does training and equipment to keep deputies as safe as possible.

"One of our deputies just this week, as you reported on, was shot dead center in the chest. Had he not been wearing a very good bulletproof vest? He would have been dead. It would have been a gunshot directly through the heart," said Judd. "So at the end of the day, we provide a lot of training and a lot of equipment, and we can't measure all the law enforcement officers that don't die in the line of duty. We just know the ones who do."

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Officers said changing the trend requires a nationwide discussion.

"You see it as far as the White House all the way down to your local city council members to where the topic of officers being killed in the line of duty is not acceptable," said Vazquez.

FBI Tampa said the FBI director even noted the violence to lawmakers in Washington in August, calling 2021 the worst year since the 9/11 attacks for officers feloniously killed.