What began as a desire to give back, became a reality …….
It began with a phone call no Law Enforcement Family wants to receive, “It is with great sadness that we inform you..."
Line of Duty Deaths (LODD) Totals for 2018
6 LODD for 2019 this is a 33% increase from last year
Gunfire as the cause of death is up 12% from previous years (2010 to 2018) with 51 cases of death by gunfire in 2018.
Stats for 2019
- 3 gunfire up 67%
- 3 auto up 67%
- 3 Felonious Death
- 3 Non-felonious deaths
- 2 Military Veterans
- The agency with the highest number of LODD deaths is New York
- The second highest is Texas with 12 LODD deaths last year
- The average age of LODD is 41 years old and the youngest has been 23 years old and the oldest was 76 years old.
- The average length of service is 12 years, the shortest has been 7 days and the longest was 41 years
- Last year there were 147 LODD deaths in US
- 895 LODD in last five years, and 1,711 in last 10 years.
- Law Enforcement continues to be one of the most dangerous professions in America
DATA from Officer Down Memorial Page and it updates daily as researchers update information: www.odmp.org
Carmen's Message
What began as a desire to give back, became a reality ……
It began with a phone call no Law Enforcement Family wants to receive, “It is with great sadness that we inform you that your loved one has been killed while on duty.” The words and circumstances may be different but the loss, the grief, the emptiness is the same.
From that moment life became a blur and I functioned mechanically not really focusing on what was going on around me. So many thoughts and emotions, how was I ever going to go on? Would I ever feel like living again? How will I deal with the emptiness? Even if you don’t want to think about it, you worry about finances, how are we going to pay bills.
From the moment we received the notification; calls, messages, visits and mail began to come in from all over the country. All of these were from persons we did not even know but all had a common thread, the “Thin Blue Line”. Support was from Law Enforcement Families, Officers, and Supporters of Law Enforcement all sending love, support, and prayers. All of this support definitely helped us through some awful times and provided some comfort and peace.
One evening weeks after Floyd’s memorial as I sat at home with family writing thank you notes, I shared with them that I wanted to give some of that love and support back to others who found themselves in our situation. My family supported my idea 100 percent and even offered to help. They too wanted to do something to honor Floyd and help others, so we began to research needs of Law Enforcement Officers and their families.
We found so much data and information that we had to decide on what we could realistically do. When an officer dies in the line of duty families experience a loss of income immediately. Pay due and insurances are not quickly paid and can even take months depending on the type of death. So, one of our goals was to help a surviving family with immediate one-time financial assistance.
The other area we felt passionate about was helping the Law Enforcement surviving coworker. Law Enforcement Officers experience a tremendous amount of stress in their jobs already and when they lose a coworker friend additional stress is added. Many do not access departmental resources for fear of being labeled so we all agreed that we wanted to help them by providing supportive events to help cope with the loss and stress associated with their jobs.
And we want to do all this by engaging our local law enforcement groups and our community so we can work together and bring about change in perceptions of Law Enforcement here at home and across the country.
WYTASHA CARTER
Birmingham Police Department, Alabama
End of Watch Sunday, January 13, 2019
Sergeant Wytasha Carter was shot and killed as he and another officer attempted to arrest two men who were breaking into vehicles at a bar in 900 block of Fifth Avenue North just before 2:00 am.
They were in the area on a special detail as the result of a recent rash of vehicle break-ins. A plainclothes officer spotted two subjects pulling on door handles of various cars and notified Sergeant Carter, who was in uniform and responded to the parking lot. The officer and Sergeant Carter stopped the two subjects and began to pat them down for weapons.
One of the men suddenly produced a handgun and shot officers, fatally wounding Sergeant Carter and critically wounding the plainclothes officers.
One of the subjects was wounded by return gunfire before both men were taken into custody.
Sergeant Carter was a U.S. Air Force veteran. He had served with the Birmingham Police Department for eight years and had previously served with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, Leeds Police Department, and Fairfield Police Department for an additional nine years. He is survived by his wife and children.
CHRISTOPHER LAMBERT
Illinois State Police, Illinois
End of Watch Saturday, January 12, 2019
Trooper Christopher Lambert was struck and killed by a vehicle while investigating the scene of a prior crash on I-294 near Willow Road in Northbrook.
He was en route home when he encountered the three-vehicle crash on the left shoulder and stopped to render aid. He was standing outside of his vehicle when he was struck by another vehicle that failed to slow down or move over.
A nurse who was on the scene performed CPR until rescuepersonnel arrived. He was transported to Glenbrook Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Trooper Lambert was a U.S. Army veteran and had served with the Illinois State Police for five years. He is survived by his wife, 1-year-old daughter, and parents.
NATALIE CORONA
Davis Police Department, California
End of Watch Thursday, January 10, 2019
Police Officer Natalie Corona was shot and killed after responding to a report of a three-car vehicle crash near the intersection of 5th and D streets.
As Officer Corona was conducting an investigation at the collision scene, one of the persons involved opened fire, striking Officer Corona.
Officer Corona was transported to UC Davis Medical Center, where she died from her wounds.
The subject fled into a nearby home and committed suicide.
Officer Corona started her career with the Davis Police Department in 2016 as a part-time volunteer Community Service Officer. In 2018 she attended the Police Academy and graduated in July and completed her field training three weeks prior to the incident. She is survived by her parents. Her father had recently retired from the Colusa County Sheriff's Office.
Our Current Fallen K9 Heroes
K9 Haus
1 K9 down by gunfire shot while assisting in domestic violence call. Had been with PD 3 years and was narcotics dog also
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