National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day - Ep11 Shownotes

Today’s featured holiday is, “National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day”!

As a former police officer, trainer, and Chief of Police, this day is near and dear to my heart.

Across the U.S. alone there are more than 800,000 sworn police officers serving communities large and small. When we add in federal, military, and special police, we have more than a million men and women working to protect us. In addition to sworn law enforcement officers, there are hundreds of thousands of other people working in law enforcement agencies such as dispatchers, crime scene specialists, and administrative personnel.

It’s no secret that policing is a dangerous profession. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, there were 64 officers killed in firearms related incidents in 2016. That was a 56 percent increase over 2015. Twenty-one of those deaths resulted from ambush type shootings, the highest total in more than two decades.

In total, the death toll for police officers from all work-related causes in 2016 was 135. For 2017, the death toll was 125 with 45 of those deaths by gunfire.

But let’s not just look at numbers. Everyone of those law enforcement officers were husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters. Every one of those law enforcement officers were human beings, people with hopes and dreams for a safer and better world. Each one of these people gave his or her life in pursuit of their dream.

Genius of National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day:

The National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day was born in 2015 as the result of a cooperative effort by a multitude of organization such as the Fraternal Order of Police, the FBI National Academy Associates, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and others.

How to Participate:

How can you participate in National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day? First, when you see a police officer make a point to say “Thank you for what you do”. Mail or deliver a letter of appreciation to your local City, County, or State police agency. Wear blue, put in and turn on a blue porch light, or acknowledge your appreciation on social media.

Use the hashtag #NationalLawEnforcementAppreciationDay to spread the word.

Please share this episode and please make a point to thank police officers today and every day for what they do.