City officials and the Decatur Police Benevolent and Protective Association, the labor union that represents more than 200 currently sworn and retired police officers, continue to negotiate the terms of
Posted5/7/2021 5:20 AM
The deadliest threat facing law enforcement officers across the country over the past year hasn t been armed criminals, high-speed pursuits or reckless drivers crashing into patrol vehicles.
It s been COVID-19.
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 297 officers including nine in Illinois have died after contracting the virus as a result of their duties. That s nearly 200 more than all other causes combined over the same time frame.
But despite those sobering statistics, police officers nationwide have been slow to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a report this week in The Washington Post. Although police were among the first with access, less than 40% of officers in several major-city departments New York, Atlanta and Phoenix among them have received even one dose, the Post reported. That compares to nearly 57% of adults nationwide, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.