Friday, March 27, 2020

Officer Down Memorial Page statement on LEO deaths and COVID-19

Update: View all confirmed line of duty deaths as a result of COVID-19 on ODMP.

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

Monday, March 9, 2020

End of Watch Report February 2020

Line of Duty Death Report for February 2020 showing 8 LODDs for the month, bringing the YTD total to 21, a 28% decrease from this time last year
In February 2020, eight law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in the United States.  Of those eight deaths, five were due to gunfire and three were due to automobile crashes.  The year-to-date total number of line of duty deaths at the end of February stood at 21, which is a 28% decrease from the same time last year.

The Officer Down Memorial Page extends our deepest condolences to the families, friends, and agencies who lost a loved one to a line of duty death in February 2020; please take a moment to read each of the memorials for these officers and remember the fallen:


Deputy Sheriff Richard Edward Whitten
Liberty County Sheriff's Office (TX)





Police Officer Nick O'Rear
Kimberly Police Department (AL)





Trooper Joseph Jon Bullock
Florida Highway Patrol (FL)


 

Police Officer Kenneth Reid Lester
Richmond Police Department (IN)
Deputy Sheriff Donna Richardson-Below
DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Office (LA)




Lieutenant Shirley Lanning
Canadian County Sheriff's Office (OK)

 
Officer David Kellywood
White Mountain Apache Tribal Police Department (Tribal Police)



Corporal Andrew Gillette
Sumter County Sheriff's Office (SC)