COVID-19 was leading cause of duty-related police deaths in 2020

COVID-19 caused 62% of duty-related deaths of US police officers in the first year of the pandemic—a rate that rose to 77% to 82% among minority officers—according to a new study published in Policing: An International Journal.Researchers from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) mined the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund database, which tracks law-enforcement officers who die while on duty, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2020.Age, race, rank all risk factorsOf the 295 duty-related deaths, 182 (62%) were attributed to COVID-19, for a national rate of 12.8 per 100,000 officers per year, higher than that of all other causes of death combined (8.0 per 100,000).

Most deaths occurred in spring and summer. The remaining 38% of death were attributed to gunshot wounds, vehicle crashes, other diseases, accidents, drownings, and beatings.The vast majority of officers who died of COVID-19 (94%) were men, 61.6% were older than 50 years, 54% had more than 20 years of experience, and 50.0% were lower-ranking (patrol and corrections) officers—who are likely at higher risk owing to high rates of infection in crowded prisons—the researchers said.

COVID-19 caused 35 of 36 corrections officer deaths (97%), compared with 56 of 130 patrol officer deaths (43%).On average, relative to officers who died of other causes, those who died of COVID-19 were significantly older (53.0 vs 41.3 years), had more experience (21.3 vs 12.7 years), and less likely to be White than Hispanic or Black (40.0% vs 71%).