This thread is about the immediate threats of serious bodily harm, or death, that law enforcement officers can face from members of the public while on duty. My hope is that members can stay on topic while discussing these issues.
Today was a particularly tragic day for the law enforcement community in North Carolina. Eight members of a U.S. Marshals Task Force were shot while serving a warrant. Four families lost a parent/sibling/child that left for work this morning to serve the public to the best of their abilities.
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I suspect there will be some serious questioning of procedure here, after such a tragedy. So many questions come to mind, like were these officers overly exposed to danger? A criminal serious enough to require so many officers, and no helmets or body armor? Or ineffective protection? Why not wait until he leaves the house to serve the warrant? These guys and gals have such a dangerous job, they need all the protection possible.
My BIL was shot in the face and chest during a SWAT operation by a crazy old man with a shotgun threatening suicide (he got his wish). He was blinded and had shotgun pellets that would make their way out of his skin for years afterwards. He says that he made a mistake by standing up in front of a window. That job is too dangerous to be done by anyone not wearing full bulletproof gear.
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Have there been reports that they weren’t wearing ballistic helmet and/or vests? I’ve only seen reports of the aftermath. I can’t imagine a fugitive task force wouldn’t have the necessary equipment.
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I think it will be awhile before we hear the whole story. I’ve read comments that they should have had a ballistic shield, whatever that was. It also seems to me that you send a specially trained and equipped SWAT team in for something like this. I just wonder, do police not have adequate protective gear available to them that won’t protect them from these kinds of situations? A fugitive with illegal arms seems like the most dangerous potential conflict.
Causes of Law Enforcement Deaths - National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund lists cause of law enforcement officer deaths in recent years. In a typical year, being shot and job related illness each seemed to account for about a third of deaths, while automobile crashes account for somewhat fewer, followed by being struck by vehicle. Most other causes were quite rare.
However, 2020 and 2021 a huge spike in law enforcement officer deaths, due to COVID-19. 2022 still had more COVID-19 deaths than other listed causes, but not as many as in 2020 or 2021.
Job related illness (other than COVID-19) was significantly lower in 2023 than in previous years for some reason. Even adding the (few in 2023) COVID-19 deaths does not get that category up to where it was in previous years.
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That is a strange list, though, the things they list as “job related” deaths. They list Covid in there, along with being shot, car accidents, being stabbed, etc. But they don’t list causes like heart attacks, strokes, cancer, the usual things that kill people. I understand that one would have greater exposure to Covid being a police officer, but that doesn’t seem to fit as a work related cause.
COVID-19 and other communicable diseases (the latter presumably included in “job related illness”) could be caught on the job while doing law enforcement, since doing something like apprehending a suspect would not lend itself well to social distancing.
It would not be surprising if “job related illness” also included chemical exposure when the officer enters a situation chemical hazards exist (possibly unknown beforehand).
Heart attacks, cancer, and strokes are not something that can be pinned down to any specific job related event in most cases, although job related exposures to dangerous chemicals and such over time could be related to such things. But also, such causes of death are more likely after the officer has retired, so they may not be counted.
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I don’t know how they could possibly determine that work caused Covid related deaths, though. I wonder if they are considering all Covid deaths as job related, or just ones they had reported passed on by suspects or coworkers. Certainly people could have caught Covid from family members, doing anything in public besides their job.
Just an aside, anyways, that kind of shocked me.
Keep in mind that there may have still been law enforcement officers that worked Ground Zero that passed away in previous years from job related illnesses.
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I just want to say that I think about you and your son every time I read about one of these tragedies. It must be so difficult as parents knowing that your child puts themselves in danger going to work every day. I feel the same way about my friends who have kids in the military, are firefighters, or have other similarly dangerous jobs. Hard enough worrying about adult kids with desk jobs. 
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This is a ballistic shield, and how it’s utilized. They are almost always rated to stop rifle rounds.
Not every agency/department has a SWAT team. These task forces are formed across multiple state, local and federal agencies. It’s supposed to function similar to a SWAT team, and they do train together. My son hopes to be on a similar task force soon as a tactical medic while he waits for the opportunity to try out for his actual SWAT team. My son also already has a kitted out ballistic helmet.
In many departments they don’t have all of the equipment they should, but they should all have most of the equipment necessary to keep them safe on a day to day basis.
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I appreciate your kind words. It isn’t always easy for us, but it is what he was meant to do apparently. I know he becomes more prepared every day, and he trains his body relentlessly for the physical aspects of the job. When the time comes we just hope his preparation and training both kick in to get him through the danger. He was in a Tactical Emergency Casualty Care class yesterday with several others from local, state and federal agencies.
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I was just talking to my H about law enforcement and how it amazes me that there are still individuals who are willing to make this a career. It’s obviously dangerous, but also underfunded, underpaid and lacks respect in many areas.
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You are 100% correct, and the same issues extend to the armed forces. We’re lucky that our son chose an agency that is extremely well funded. Law enforcement officers know full well that some people not only don’t respect them, but despise them. Regardless, when a call comes in they head towards the person in need no matter what that person thinks about them.
In my son’s free time he volunteers as an EMT for a rescue squad as well. That work is completely unpaid. Some people are wired like him, and I’m glad, because I don’t personally know many people that would do what he does.
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As a follow up, below is a story about one of the seriously injured officers. He is a member of a local department’s Special Response Team(SRT), which is a kinder, gentler name for SWAT team. He was hit in his torso in an area not covered by his bullet proof vest. To your point, though, there are still a lot of questions and I’m sure they’ll do a deep dive after action report internally.
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At least it sounds like he’s expected to make a full recovery, so that’s a relief.
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From the article below:
The two victims showed responding officers the home where the gunfire came from, according to a joint statement from Lopinto and Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley.
Detectives recognized the address as belonging to a family member of Lathers; Lathers had an outstanding warrant for an attempted murder and armed robbery earlier in the week, the statement said.
Police obtained a search warrant and a SWAT team arrived on scene to execute the warrant. When the team entered the home, they “immediately began receiving fire,” the statement said.
“At least one SWAT member returned fire. Three officers were shot, and it is unknown at this time if Lathers was struck during that initial contact.”
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/28/us/louisiana-kenner-police-officers-injured
This officer drove himself to the hospital with a gunshot wound.
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My husband read that the guy was shooting from the top floor, with an AR-15. Apparently AR-15’s can shoot bullets that go right through body armor? If that’s true, why anyone would support making these type of weapons readily available to just about anyone is beyond my comprehension.
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My son’s duty vest stops AR-15 bullets. Here are the classifications.
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