We lost six officers during the month of August, bringing the total for the first eight months of 2013 to 65. Of the six fallen, three were due to vehicle-related incidents, two to gunfire and one who succumbed to a heart attack. It is impossible for the written word to adequately convey the tragedy of these losses. These officers, ranging in age from 31 to 56, served in departments large and small that were spread across this great country. Each had hopes and dreams and family members who will miss them terribly.
On behalf of Law Officer, I extend condolences to every coworker, family member and agency that has experienced a line-of-duty loss. Here are summaries of our losses during the month of August, listed in order of occurrence:
Deputy Sheriff Jeff Watson, 41, St. Parish (La.) Sheriff’s Office, was killed in an automobile crash while responding to an assistance call from another officer. He was traveling with his emergency lights activated when an oncoming vehicle attempted to make a left turn in front of him. Deputy Watson, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time, attempted to avoid a collision but sideswiped the vehicle and then struck another vehicle head-on.
Sergeant Mike Wilson, 42, Charlotte County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Department, was shot and killed when he responded to a domestic violence call at an apartment complex. The call involved a man in a physical fight with his wife and son. As Sergeant Wilson walked up to the apartment, the male subject emerged and opened fire from the second-floor landing, striking Sergeant Wilson in the chest above his vest. The subject then committed suicide.
Officer Ivorie Klusmann, 31, Dekalb County (Ga.) Police Department, died in a single-vehicle crash while responding to assist another officer. Klusmann had been involved in a pursuit earlier in the evening that had been called off in compliance with the department's pursuit policy. Another officer requested backup after spotting a vehicle matching the wanted vehicle's description. Officer Klusmann was rolling to the assistance call when he lost control, left the roadway and struck a tree.
Sergeant J.L. Garcia, 51, Pharr (Texas) Police Department, died in a vehicular crash with a dump truck at an intersection. He had been on his way to a meeting at the Pharr International Bridge. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries about one hour later.
Officer Jason Schneider, 36, Baltimore County (Md.) Police Department, was shot and killed while serving a search warrant at a home in Catonsville. Schneider was part of a tactical team that entered the house in search of a juvenile subject wanted in connection with a shooting. The team encountered four subjects who attempted to flee. Officer Schneider was pursuing a subject toward the rear of the house when another subject opened fire, striking Schneider several times. Despite being mortally wounded, Schneider returned fire and killed the subject. Two juveniles, including the subject they were originally searching for, were charged with weapons violations.
Trooper William Keane, 56, New York State Police, suffered a fatal heart attack while representing the New York State Police in the North American Inspectors Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah. Keane had been participating in the timed commercial vehicle inspection events when he began to feel ill. He was transported to a local hospital but passed away a short time later.
With two-thirds of 2013 now behind us, our losses are actually more than 10% lower than they were at this time last year. And that is truly remarkable because last year was the lowest level of loss seen in more than 50 years! Every day without a line-of-duty death is a victory.
Although encouraged by the significant improvement, I am not minimizing the tragedy of our losses. I follow them closely and, like many of you, I look for any possible lesson that can prevent other officers from dying. We must honor our fallen by learning from their mistakes and using that knowledge to train and equip the living. Sometimes, there’s nothing that could have been done. Regardless, we all have a responsibility to improve officer safety, both individually and across the profession.
No line-of-duty death should ever be considered as acceptable or without consequence. For those that do occur, we must learn the lessons and vow not to repeat them. Remember, predictable is preventable. Two of our losses this month involved officers who were en route to assist another officer. Sadly, this is an all-too-often occurrence. One of our core Below 100 trainers wrote a very compelling article on how we can address this issue. I encourage each of you to read it and make sure that every training officer you know does the same thing.
If you haven’t already, I challenge each of you to engage with Below 100, Law Officer’s initiative to reduce line-of-duty deaths to fewer than 100 per year, a level not seen since 1944. The time is now. We can do this. Check www.Below100.com for further information.
Special thanks to our great partners at odmp.org for keeping us up to date on our losses and honoring the fallen. We rely on ODMP to provide the information that we share with you in these monthly updates.