Covid was top cause of death for US police officers last year

Law enforcement memorial fund said total fatalities were highest since 1930

Covid-19 has been the biggest killer of police in the United States for the second year running, a report has revealed.

A total of 301 members of law enforcement died in the line of duty last year from Covid, the report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund found.

That was among 458 fatalities reported by the fund, revealed on Tuesday in its annual report. It also makes 2021 the deadliest for more than nine decades.

Fatalities among police members were 55 per cent higher than in 2020, the memorial fund said, with deaths in the first year of Covid amounting to 264, of which 145 were from Covid.

The report said the 301 members of law enforcement who died in 2021 from Covid had “died due to direct exposure to the virus during the commission of their official duties”.

“This year’s statistics demonstrate that America’s front-line law enforcement officers continue to battle the deadly effects of the Covid-19 pandemic nationwide,” the report added.

Deaths from felony assaults, firearms and traffic-related incidents while being on duty were the next biggest reasons for police deaths in 2021.

The memorial fund said “the dramatic increase in traffic-related fatalities in 2021 is also cause for concern for law enforcement agencies nationwide”, and that last year’s figures were 38 per cent higher than in 2020.

With firearms responsible for 61 deaths among police last year, Covid was almost five times greater a cause of deaths.

The Officer Down Memorial page, a non-profit, has reported the first police death of 2020 as Dallas police officer Christopher Gibson on 2 January, from Covid.