Protecting The Palm Beaches, A Tribute to Those Who Serve and Sacrifice
Bottom Line: This weekly feature is designed to recognize those who've paid the ultimate price in service and to serve as a reminder of what our police risk to keep us safe. After years of increases in LODs, including multiple record years, thankfully 2023 produced the fewest line-of-duty deaths in the 2000’s. Let’s pray for the improvement to continue this year.
- We lost 123 heroes in the line-of-duty in 2023 including 3 in Florida
- We’ve lost 23 heroes in the line-of-duty in 2024 including 1 in Florida
We’ve lost these heroes since the previous update.
- In Missouri, Officer Cody Allen was murdered while responding to an emergency call in the shooting of a process server. Upon on arriving on the scene, the suspect fired at Cody and other responding officers. Cody was struck and succumbed to the injuries. The suspect was killed with return fire. He is survived by a wife and two children.
- In Washington, Christoper Gadd was struck and killed on a highway while conducting DUI enforcement. He’s survived by his wife and daughter.
As we reflect on those we’ve lost, please remember the families of our fallen as well. The average age is 39, the average tour-of-duty – 10 years. In addition to losing 23 law enforcement professionals in the line-of-duty this year, there are 16 widows and 31 children who’ve lost a parent.