Officer Quickfire Recap: First Week of December

It can be hard to keep up with all of the news that occurs on daily basis.

Because of this, the Officer.com staff presents the "Quickfire Weekly Recap."

Here are some of the stories you may have missed that ran on our site this week:

Weekend (Nov. 29-Dec. 1)

A York Regional Police officer in Ontario, Canada died Friday morning -- more than two weeks after breaking his leg during a training exercise.

Constable Michael Pegg suffered the injury during a requalification exercise at a facility in Vaughan on Nov. 12 and remained at a hospital until his death.

An NYPD traffic enforcement agent was killed Saturday afternoon after he was struck by a vacuum truck.

Traffic Agent Kalyanarat Ranasinghe, 71, was in uniform and on-duty at the time of the incident and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A police helicopter crashed into a pub Friday night in Glasgow, Scotland at patrons celebrated on the eve of St. Andrew's day.

At least eight people died and more than a dozen were hospitalized with serious injuries.

A Virginia State Police trooper and two Bath County, Va. firefighters were hospitalized Friday night when the trooper's cruiser crashed into a fire truck.

All three were hospitalized following the wreck that occurred as the trooper was en route to assist the Bath County Sheriff's Office with a domestic call.

Monday (Dec. 2)

Law enforcement in Ontario, Canada were in mourning again after a Toronto police constable succumbed to injuries sustained in a cruiser crash over the weekend.

Constable John Zivcic was responding to a call about an impaired driver when his cruiser collided with another vehicle.

Two former Fullerton, Calif. police officers are on trial in the beating death of a homeless man in 2011.

Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli are facing manslaughter charges, but their defense attorneys claim the men did no wrong.

A Romeoville, Ill. police officer, a retired officer and an aspiring officer all worked together to rescue a man from a fiery wreck over the weekend.

Officer Woodsman "Woody" Jones, Wayne Young, and Ernesto Irizarry came upon a car in flames after a crash on the Stevenson Expressway.

The St. Louis Police Department hopes a new initiative to give free books to children will help reduce crime.

Stickers on the libraries will encourage kids to "Take a Book, Keep a Book" and police officers will be handing out gift certificates to local businesses to children who leave book reports inside the box.

Tuesday (Dec. 3)

An inmate who killed a Texas corrections officer during an escape attempt in 2007 was put to death.

Jerry Martin apologized to the family of Susan Canfield before he was executed in Huntsville.

A Washington sheriff's deputy and D.C. police officer are both recovering after being shot by suspects.

The Pierce County deputy was hit in the arm when his body armor deflected a bullet to his chest. The D.C. police officer was shot and the suspect was fatally wounded during a shootout.

An off-duty Fresno police officer was on the phone with his wife when a gang member began shooting at him from another car.

The officer returned fire, wounding both the driver and the passenger who shot at him.

A 10-year-old boy who had been named the honorary police chief of Ridgewood, N.J. was given a funeral with full police honors after dying of cancer.

Michael Feeney's flag-draped coffin arrived at the church to the sound of bagpipes and left with a motorcycle escort.

Wednesday (Dec. 4)

Recordings were released of 911 calls from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that claimed the lives of 20 students and six adults on Dec. 14, 2012.

The audio revealed that town dispatchers urged panicked callers to take cover, mobilized help and asked about the welfare of the children as gunfire could be heard in the background.

An Evansville, Ill. police officer who recently rescued a young girl's beloved teddy bear from a busy roadway was thanked in person.

Sgt. Jason Cullum was traveling on I-164 when he stopped his cruiser to retrieve third-grader Nikki Mayo's teddy bear and returned it to her family down the road.

Two Dalton, Ga. police officers were disciplined following a profanity-laced tirade was videotaped on a school bus.

Officers John Gurrieri and Steve Collins were both suspended for two days without pay and required to complete 40 hours of service at local youth programs for cursing at the students on Nov. 11.

The police chief of Vicco, Ky. will soon be paid in virtual currency.

The city commission approved Chief Tony Vaughn's request to be paid in Bitcoin, and say the move is likely the first of its kind in the nation.

Thursday (Dec. 5)

William Bratton was chosen once again to lead the New York Police Department.

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio announced the veteran's appointment as police commissioner and said that Bratton is a "proven crime-fighter" who knows how to keep the city safe.

An independent auditor has determined that the BART police force has made solid progress following the death of Oscar Grant nearly five years ago.

Audit director Patrick Oliver said that the 200-officer force has "exceeded expectations" in working toward overhauling the department.

As the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting approaches, experts say that dates play a big role in when tragic events such as mass shootings and bombings occur.

Deb Del Vecchio-Scully, executive director of the Connecticut Counseling Association, says that dates are very important for those with a fascination with horrific acts and that Dec. 14 will be another to now worry about.