CNN: COVID-19 has killed more U.S. Law Enforcement Than Any Other Cause

CNN reported that COVID-19 is the leading cause of deaths among law enforcement officers this year:

More police officers have died from Covid-19 this year than have been killed on patrol.

That's according to the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP), a nonprofit organization that tracks law enforcement fatalities in the line of duty.

At least 101 officers have died from Covid-19, while at least 82 have died by other means, as of Thursday, according to ODMP.

The organization is working to verify an additional some 150 officers who are presumed to have died after becoming infected on duty, said communications director Jessica Rushing wrote in an email to CNN.

Harmeet Kaur, Covid-19 has killed more law enforcement officers this year than all other causes combined, CNN

CNN sources this information from the Officer Down Memorial Page's section on COVID-19 related deaths of officers. Many of the fallen officers are detention and institutional officers. The Bureau of Prisons lists two employees who have died due to COVID-19.

Guards are not the only people who enter and leave a prison each day. In my experience there are guards, medical professionals, mental health professionals, administrators, food service workers just to name a few. In many situations, they may be bringing COVID-19 with them. It is possible that those individuals brought COVID-19 into the prison with them, infecting incarcerated persons and personnel.

The smart thing for the courts to do here would be to increase the amount of COVID-19 compassionate release grants, obviously. Granting more COVID-19 relief would lower the number of people inside the walls of the prisons and as such, reduce the chances of officers getting sick from other inmates. By saying this, this actually makes our office more pro-law enforcement than the US Attorney's office. My, how the tables have turned!