Police Duty: Daily danger The Portland Post and Courier July 21, 2010 Every day that law enforcement officers set out to preserve decency and protect the community from harm is a day when they might face their own life-threatening harm -- or even death. They respond to armed robberies, hostage situations and domestic disturbances where emotions are strained and guns are often loaded. They respond to car accidents in the middle of heavy traffic and pursue suspects at speeds that put the officers in peril.

Since our nation's first recorded police death in 1792, nearly 19,000 law enforcement officers in the United States have been killed in the line of duty.

On average, more than 58,000 officers are assaulted each year, resulting in approximately 16,000 injuries.

Statistics like these are even more dramatic when the officer assaulted is one of our own -- like Goose Creek police officer Robert Edwards Jr., shot Monday night while responding to a domestic disturbance call.

According to the police, he was shot at least once by a man wielding a shotgun. Officer Edwards hadn't even entered the house.

Fortunately, he survived. Unfortunately, what he faced is routine for law enforcement officers around the country.

The job of a police officer is safer than it once was, due at least in part to improved equipment and better training. Fewer U.S. law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2009 than in any year in the past half century.

But the number killed by gunfire has increased, and the brutality of the shootings has, too.

The risks are all the more reason that state and local authorities must continue to fund law enforcement adequately, even in difficult budget years.

Two new state laws should make officers' jobs more efficient and safer.

The sentencing-reform law is designed to keep hardened, violent criminals behind bars, not out in the community threatening public safety and putting police in danger.

Another new law allows police officers to search probationers and parolees without obtaining a warrant. The measure helps the state's fiscally strapped Probation and Parole Department and increases the incentive for released convicts to stay out of trouble -- and prison.

Law enforcement officers know they must approach every situation with caution. Even a traffic stop could be deadly.

Likewise, state and local leaders -- and ordinary citizens -- should never take law enforcement for granted. Our police, who put their lives on the line daily, deserve sufficient equipment and training even in tough budget years.

And lest we forget, they also deserve our sincere thanks.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/jul/21/police-duty-daily-danger/