Covid-19 has killed more police and other law enforcement officers this year than all other causes combined.
At least 101 officers have died after contracting the virus while doing their jobs so far in 2020 — more than three times the number killed by gunfire, which is 2nd on the grim list, reports the Washington Post.
The Post cites the non-profit group Officer Down, which tracks all officer deaths on its web page; it is said to be verifying as many as 150 more officer deaths “due to Covid-19 and presumed to have been contracted in the line of duty.”
The tally includes police officers, sheriff’s deputies, correctional officers, federal law enforcement officers and military police officers who are killed “outside of military conflict.”
In an email to the Post, Officer Down’s executive director, Chris Cosgriff, predicted that by the time the pandemic finally winds down “it is very likely that Covid will surpass 9/11 as the single largest incident cause of death for law enforcement officers.” Known 9/11-related police deaths, including cancer, currently total more than 370.
It’s an ironic development, coming as Donald Trump seeks re-election as a “law and order” president who is widely seen as having dismissed the severity of the pandemic while failing to slow its spread.
States with the largest numbers of Covid-linked law-enforcement deaths incude Texas (at least 21), Louisiana (12), and Florida, New Jersey and Illinois (8 each).
Numbers from other sources — including the Fraternal Order of Police and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund — vary from about 70 total coronavirus deaths to more than 200.