LINE OF DUTY

Last Year Was One of the Deadliest Ever for Cops—and COVID Was the Culprit

Despite this, police departments and unions have pushed back on vaccine mandates, filing lawsuits and threatening resignations.

Last year was the deadliest year on record for U.S. law enforcement officers in nearly a century, with a report finding COVID-19 to have been the leading cause of death for the second year in a row. The preliminary data, released on Tuesday by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, revealed that of 458 officers who died in the line of duty in 2021, 301 “died due to direct exposure to the virus” while on the job. “This number appears to increase almost daily,” the report said. Coronavirus-related deaths were identified across 32 states but were concentrated in California and southern states like Texas and Florida. In 2020, 295 officers died, 182 of them for COVID-related reasons. The last time the tally went above 300 was in 1930, according to the organization. Despite vaccinations continually being proven as the safest and most effective way to prevent severe illness and death, police departments and unions have pushed back on vaccine mandates, filing lawsuits and threatening resignations.