Protecting The Palm Beaches – February 21st, 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 9 heroes in the line of duty thus far this year.
We’ve lost these heroes since the previous update:
- In Georgia, Officer Jeremy Labonte (pictured) was murdered while responding to a report of a suspicious person at a shopping center. Upon arriving on the scene, the suspect opened fire on Jeremy. Responding officers arrested the suspect who’s been charged with murder. Jeremy is survived by his wife.
- In Nebraska, Trooper Kyle McAcy was processing an accident scene during a snowstorm when he was struck and killed by the driver of a snowplow attempting to clear the road.
As we reflect on those we’ve lost, please remember the families of our fallen as well. The average age of the fallen is 42, the average tour-of-duty is 14 years. In addition to losing 9 law enforcement professionals in the line-of-duty this year, there are 4 widows and 10 children who lost a parent. Remember to back the badge and spread the word. They need us just as much as we need them.