Protecting The Palm Beaches – January 17th, 2025
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. Unfortunately, after progress was made in reducing line of duty deaths in 2023 – we weren’t able to sustain that progress last year. LODs rose by 17% nationally in 2024, with five additional LODs within the state of Florida. A total of 342 officers were shot in the line of duty resulting in 50 deaths – an 8% increase year over year.
- We lost 144 heroes in the line of duty in 2024 including 8 in Florida
- We’ve lost 4 heroes in the line of duty thus far this year.
We’ve lost these heroes since the previous update.
- In Texas, Deputy Jesus Vargas was murdered when a suspect opened fire on him and his partner while serving an arrest warrant. The suspect was killed with return fire. Jesus is survived by a wife and three children.
- In Texas, Sergeant Mark Butler (pictured) was killed in a crash when he used his vehicle to stop a bank fraud suspect on the run. The suspect fled from authorities traveling the wrong way on a highway. Mark used his vehicle to prevent the suspect from hitting oncoming traffic head on, dying from his injuries.
As we reflect on those we’ve lost, please remember the families of our fallen as well. The average age of the fallen is 50, the average tour-of-duty is 15 years. In addition to losing 4 law enforcement professionals in the line-of-duty in 2025, there are 3 widows and 8 children who lost a parent. Remember to back the badge and spread the word. They need us just as much as we need them.