During this difficult period for Americans and American law enforcement officers, staff at the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) continue to monitor incidents in which law enforcement officers have died as the result of contracting COVID-19. Our hearts go out to all families and agencies that have been affected.
ODMP has established criteria
for evaluating the deaths of law enforcement officers as the result of illnesses,
such as COVID-19. The portion of our criteria related to illnesses reads *:
Health
Related Causes: Any
law enforcement officer who dies as a result of any health related cause
(illness, disease, infection, etc.) that is a direct result of the officer's
law enforcement duties.
Example
scenarios:
·
Contraction
of an infectious disease or illness such as Hepatitis or AIDS
·
Contraction
of an infection or illness as a result of a duty related illness
·
Health
related issues due to a HAZMAT incident
Evidence
of a direct relation between a duty related incident and the contraction of a
disease or illness much be presented in the form of official documentation.
We evaluate each potential case on an individual basis in
order to ensure there is clear or presumptive documentation indicating that the illness was, in fact, a direct result of law enforcement duties and not
contracted while off duty. We rely on each affected agency to supply the
appropriate documentation.
Due to the complex and unique nature of each incident, it often
takes much longer than normal to make a line of duty death determination due to illnesses such as COVID-19.
Like all Americans and citizens globally, we continue to
pray for a speedy resolution to this pandemic.
* ODMP's full Criteria for Inclusion can be reviewed at https://www.odmp.org/info/criteria-for-inclusion
