I’m always skeptical of the description of a law enforcement officer’s injury in a duty-related incident as “non-life threatening”. In addition to the lingering physical and mental injuries that may result, these injuries are often life-shortening.
There are also those injuries that are reported immediately after a crash, shooting, or assault where the officer remains in serious condition. Sadly, these officers are often forgotten as the news cycle refreshes to the latest headlines.
The most startling roster of delayed mortality is the list of 426 police officers who have died after the 2001 World Trade Center attacks who were not among the 72 officers killed in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist event. Even in 2023, the toll continues with the passing of Lieutenant Robert Daniel Rice of the New York City Police Department who was among the many involved in the toxic environment surrounding the rescue and recovery process after the attacks.
NYPD officers and Port Authority police were assisted by many other agencies during the rescue efforts as many volunteered for the assignment. Officers who were eventually felled by disease and illness from the effort include a District Attorney Investigator, a campus police officer from New Jersey, Nassau County officers, New York State Police Troopers, FBI agents, ICE enforcement officers, a Peekskill, NY detective, Suffolk County, NY officers, New York State conservation officers, U.S. Marshals, ATF agents, a Newton, Connecticut officer, an Arlington County Police Department, VA officer, an investigator for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Humane Law Enforcement of New York, a Deputy Chief from City University of New York Department of Public Safety, NY, officers from the New Jersey State Police, a Harrison Police Department, NY officer, Connecticut State Police officers, A New Rochelle, NY officer, a Harrison Police Department, NY officer, a Harrison Police Department, NY officer, a Harrison Police Department, NY officer, and an officer from Yonkers Police Department, NY.
Some officers succumb to the effects of their injuries years and even decades after their fatal encounters. Deputy Dale Wyman of Tennessee died in October of 2021 from a 2012 crash while responding to a vehicle accident call. Oregon State Trooper Sgt. John Burright died 20 years after being struck by a vehicle while assisting a motorist. Two other officers died at that scene. Det. Stephen Arnold of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana was shot in 2016 while attempting to serve an arrest warrant. He died as a result of that attack in May of 2021. Deputy Stanley Burdick of Douglas County, Oregon was shot in 1980 and one bullet grazed his spine. His family said he suffered extreme pain for much of his life, never fully recovered from the incident, and died prematurely in 2021.
Los Angeles County Deputy Steven Belanger died in 2018 from injuries he suffered when he was shot in the head during a traffic stop in December of 1994. The bullet was lodged in his brain and could not be removed, causing ongoing medical issues. Bernard Domagala, a former Chicago police officer who was left with brain damage after he was shot in the line of duty 29 years ago, died in 2017 as a result of his injuries. An autopsy showed Domagala died of complications from a bullet wound to his head, and his death was ruled a homicide.
These are just a sampling of deaths from chronic damage that can last for months or years. On reflection, most officers will concede that they know that death is a possibility in their duties. Harder to contemplate is the reality that they may live, but with life-long pain or disability and premature mortality. We must never forget the sacrifice of those who have faded from the headlines.