National Police Week 2018

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the week in which that day falls as National Police Week.  Since 1982, a memorial service has been held in Washington D.C. during Police Week to honor fallen law enforcement officers.  When it began, it was a small gathering of about 120 people, but in the decades since has grown exponentially; now between 20-40,000 law enforcement officers and supporters gather in the nation's capital for this event each year.

For the last 12 years, the Officer Down Memorial Page has hosted the National Police Week 5K on the first Saturday of Police Week.  This year's event, which includes over 2700 runners and walkers in D.C. and virtual runners around the world, will take place on May 12th.

Other important Police Week events include the Memorial Service hosted by the Grand Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Candlelight Vigil hosted by NLEOMF, the Road to Hope bike ride hosted by Law Enforcement United, and the National Survivors Conference and associated seminars and events hosted by Concerns of Police Survivors throughout the week.

More Police Week events can be found here.

Our primary mission at ODMP is to honor the lives of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty, and Police Week is an annual event that reminds us why this mission is so vital.  It is a privilege to work each day to honor the memories of the fallen. 

We hope you'll take a moment during Police Week, wherever you are, to remember those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Female Line of Duty Deaths Throughout U.S. History

One way in which the Officer Down Memorial Page works to honor fallen heroes is through researching those line of duty deaths that have been forgotten to time, leaving those deserving officers unrecognized for the sacrifices they made.

In the past twenty years, ODMP has discovered and verified more than 1,600 historic line of duty deaths (LODDs) that were previously unknown.  Because of the efforts of our researchers, most of whom are volunteers who dedicate their own time to this important cause, those forgotten heroes are now honored on the ODMP and on other local, state, and national memorials.

Two recently discovered line of duty deaths highlight a statistic that often goes undiscussed: the number of female officers who have given their lives in the line of duty.

Our research team recently discovered and honored Chief Probation Officer Lucile M. Myers of the Lake County Juvenile Probation Department (IN), who was shot and killed in the line of duty on March 21, 1926 while investigating a child welfare case.  She had served with the Probation Department for five years.

Officer Myers is only the fifth known female law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty, and she is the FIRST known to have died as the result of felonious gunfire.  The next known incident in which a female officer was shot and killed in the line of duty did not take place until nearly five decades later, in 1971.

ODMP researchers also recently discovered and added to the Memorial Page Assistant to the Deputy Warden Sandra JoAnn Bachmann of the Arizona Department of Corrections, who died in the line of duty while overseeing prisoners who were detailed as a firefighting crew during a wildfire in Tonto National Forest near Payson, Arizona.  She had served with the Arizona Department of Corrections for seven years.

While they make up just a small percentage of the overall total number of LODDs, it is worth noting that 316 female officers have died in the line of duty in U.S. history.  Given the fact that women were not often allowed to serve as law enforcement officers until much more recently in the history of our country, that number is not insignificant.

Already in 2017, one female officer has died in the line of duty.  In the last five years (2012-2016), 42 female officers have given their lives in the line of duty.  The FBI estimated in 2013 that about 12% of law enforcement officers in the U.S. were female.  These numbers have slowly but steadily increased over the last few decades.  Female line of duty deaths, then, is obviously and unfortunately a statistic that will continue to grow as more and more women serve in law enforcement than ever in U.S. history.

The Officer Down Memorial Page is proud to honor the lives of the women who have died in the line of duty.  We will continue to work to honor all fallen heroes and to ensure that every officer who makes the ultimate sacrifice is remembered and recognized.

July 2016 Line of Duty Deaths Infographic

ODMP has created this visual representation of nationwide line of duty deaths in July 2016 in order to better illustrate the frequency, widespread impact, and diverse causes of line of duty deaths around the country.

July 2016 saw a total of 19 law enforcement line of duty deaths, with 12 of those resulting from felonious gunfire.  Three incidents involved multiple LODDs, including 5 officers shot and killed in Dallas, 3 in Baton Rouge, and 2 in a courthouse in Michigan.

Please share this infographic widely to help raise awareness of line of duty deaths in the United States.

Read our July 2016 End of Watch Report to see the memorials for each of the officers who gave their lives last month.  

Remember the Fallen.

Longest stretches between line of duty deaths

At the beginning of this month we were blessed with nine straight days without a line of duty death reported. So a Martin County (FL) Deputy Sheriff asked us, “What is the longest stretch of days without an officer fatality in the United States?”

When generating these kinds of statistics, the further back we go in time, the less complete the data is†. For instance, when we first ran these numbers two weeks ago we showed a stretch of 32 days without a fatality in 1901. However ODMP’s research team since discovered and added Deputy Sheriff Robert Coffey (Christian County Sheriff's Office, KY), so the data has already changed.

Therefore, to make these statistics most meaningful, the following statistics include recorded line of duty deaths from 1910 through today.

The longest stretches of time without recorded line of duty deaths are:

Days	From	Until
28	October 10, 1943	November 7, 1943
27	January 17, 1960	February 13, 1960
23	April 7, 1967	April 30, 1967
21	October 10, 1952	October 31, 1952
21	April 1, 2008	April 22, 2008
21	July 26, 2009 (2)	August 16, 2009
20	February 19, 1941	March 11, 1941
20	September 23, 1954	October 13, 1954
20	December 22, 1958	January 11, 1959
20	April 7, 2001	April 27, 2001

These long stretches are particularly remarkable when you consider that since 1910, the average span between LODDs is 2.06 days (just over 49 hours).

Line of duty deaths occurred most frequently in the 1920's, followed by the 1970's.  The graph below shows the average number of days between LODDs in the decades since 1910.

† I am proud of ODMP's research team, led by NYPD Lt. Steve Weiss, that has uncovered the previously-forgotten stories of 952 heroes who died in the line of duty.