Letter From the Editor – May 2021

Welcome to May. On October 1, 1961, Congress asked the president to designate May 15 to honor law enforcement officers. It was to be called Peace Officers Memorial Day. On October 1, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed the bill into law. Each year, we celebrate May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and whatever week the 15th falls into is designated as Police Week. It’s the one time each year where we should all stop and remember the fallen; those who have made the ultimate sacrifice; those who have given all that can ever be asked and from whose performance we should take both example and lesson.

Elsewhere in this issue, as we do in every issue, you’ll find a section called Honoring the Fallen, written by editor Paul Peluso. I would dearly love to see that section be empty one day. In an average year we lose about 160 officers in the line of duty. Online data reports that in 2020 we lost well over double that: 359. Breaking it down makes the numbers less hurtful where criminal acts are concerned, but no less hurtful due to the losses. Reportedly, 231 officers died from complications related to COVID-19. That’s not a statistic we ever had to deal with before. Nineteen died in automobile accidents. Thirteen died by intentional vehicular assault and another 8 who were struck by vehicles, apparently accidentally. Four died in motorcycle crashes. Do the math: 44 died in the line of duty in vehicular related events. Forty-five died by gunfire—roughly equal. This many years later, and 14 died due to 9/11 related illness and 4 died by drowning. Seven died of heart attack on duty. April 2020 was the deadliest month with 57 deaths, followed by July and December, both with 44 deaths per month. We can do better. We HAVE to do better. As much as so much of society seems anti-police these days, make sure you and your agency don’t forget. Hold a memorial service. Host a remembrance. Communicate what the day and week mean to the communities you serve.

This month we are also shining a spotlight on less-lethal technologies. Remembering that we will never suggest officers should incur unacceptable risk in the interest of using less-than-justified force simply to reduce potential liability, the information is there and available. Used judiciously and with full focus on maintaining officer survival risk management, less lethal technologies can provide us another tool to show our communities that we are proactively reforming how we perform our duties.

And make no mistake: “police reform” is nothing new. Those in the business more than three to five years are all too aware we reform every year. Now it’s just another political buzzword. Take control of that message and communicate with those you serve. Get ahead of it. There is nothing wrong with bragging about how you’re trying to serve even better and with greater compassion.

Stay safe.