REMEMBER: We wanted to take a moment today to honor the life of Officer Steve Jerman of the Kane Borough Police Department.

It was 20 years ago that he was gunned down on a traffic stop on Route 66 just south of the Kane borough line.

Take a moment today to think about law enforcement and all they do to keep us safe, and maybe honor Officer Jerman’s life by expressing gratitude to them.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, police have a higher risk of incurring a work-related injury than most other occupations. In 2014, the rate of fatal work injuries for police officers was 13.5 per 100,000 workers. The rate for all other occupations was 3.4.

So far this year, 18 police officers have been killed in the line of duty, according to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund.

In 2018, there were 144 law enforcement officer deaths in the line of duty.

“A total of 1,511 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past 10 years, an average of one death every 58 hours or 151 per year,” the site reported. “There were 129 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2017.”

In 2016, there were 58,627 assaults against law enforcement officials, resulting in 16,677 injuries.

“The 1920s were the deadliest decade in law enforcement history, when a total of 2,480 officers died, or an average of almost 248 each year. The deadliest year in law enforcement history was 1930, when 310 officers were killed. That figure dropped dramatically in the 1990s, to an average of 162 per year.

“The deadliest day in law enforcement history was September 11, 2001, when 72 officers were killed while responding to the terrorist attacks on America. During the past ten years, more incidents that resulted in felonious fatalities occurred on Friday than any other day of the week. The fewest number of felonious incidents occurred on Tuesday.”

From all of us at The Era, thank you to all law enforcement, emergency responders, and anyone else on the front line protecting all of us.