WASHINGTON (KOAA) — As law enforcement agencies across Colorado recognize National Police Week, a national organization is working to honor lives lost and highlight the statistics.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) released a 2024 fatalities report, since the report was released the number of deaths has been updated from 147 to 148. The number of line-of-duty deaths was an increase of about 25 percent when compared to 2023. Many of those officers who died, left behind multiple children.
News5 spoke with the Chief Executive Officer of NLEOMF, Bill Alexander, about the data, and what they are taking away from it during a week dedicated to honoring officers.
"I've long seen with my own eyes, and I suspect you have as well, that very few times does the death of a single police officer or the death of so many across any calendar year really rise to the top of anyone's social media feed," Alexander said. "I myself, retired almost four years ago, after 25 years, all of us in the profession connected loosely to the law enforcement profession, hope that to some degree, Police Week, generally sort of pierces that veil that everyone at least is aware of Police Week as a thing."
NLEOMF honored their "Roll Call of Heroes" earlier this week in Washington DC, reading off the names of 354 law enforcement heroes who lost their lives in the line of duty from 1834 to 2024. You can view those names by clicking here. The names of six officers from Colorado were read off.
Other stats highlighted in the annual report stood out, there were 52 firearms-related fatalities in 2024, a 13 percent increase compared to 2023. The leading circumstance in firearms-related fatalities was traffic enforcement, with nine, just behind that was attempting arrest with eight.
"There's a phrase in law enforcement that there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop," Alexander said of the stats. "Of course, every single year, tragically, that phrase is backed up by one or more deaths.... "the criminal element has a way to find has found a way to acquire those weapons. And those weapons are oftentimes in vehicles. And every single time a police officer stops a car, they have no idea if there is a weapon in that car, what the driver or the occupants of that car intend to do with that weapon. That's why traffic stops have been and really continue to be so dangerous."
Right behind firearms-related fatalities are 46 traffic-related fatalities. NLEOMF broke them down by circumstance, with 20 automobile crashes in 2024, five single-vehicle crashes, four motorcycle crashes and 17 officer who were struck while outside of their vehicle. The number of officers stuck outside their vehicles was more than double that of 2023.
"Every single year, when I see those numbers, particularly the struck by numbers, every single one, you just know, is absolutely heartbreaking," Alexander added. "To some degree, as a profession, we look at, how could we have mitigated that death? How could we have prevented that death?"
The report also highlights how many of those officers leave behind children. On average, officers killed in the line of duty left behind two children.
"It's an absolutely important metric, and it's one that really drives home, I think, to the American public, how impactful every single one of these deaths is," Alexander said when talking about the law enforcement officer who died and were also parents. "In a way that somehow separates from just saying a police officer tragically died. On average, every single police officer leaves behind two children. So if I tell you that 148 men and women died in the line of duty in just calendar year 2024, immediately you recognize that means 300 children today, right now, are missing one of their parents. And I really do hope that that helps drive home that protecting our democracy, protecting our communities, really does carry a heavy, heavy cost, and that cost is tragically measured every single year in hundreds of lives."
You can watch this year's memorial service held by NLEOMF by clicking here.
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