Protecting The Palm Beaches – March 14th, 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 15 heroes in the line of duty thus far this year.
We’ve lost these heroes since the previous update:
- In Minnesota, Officer Felicia Reilly died from injuries sustained from a brutal beating she suffered while responding to a 911 hangup call at a residence. Upon arriving on the scene, she was invited into the home by two elderly parents, however their adult son attacked her leading to deadly injuries. She is survived by her husband and five children.
- In New Jersey, Detective Joseph Azcona (pictured) was murdered while conducting an investigation into illegal weapons trafficking. While approaching a suspect for questioning, the suspect opened fire striking two officers – leading to the Detective Azcona’s death. Responding officers arrested five juveniles including a 14-year-old who’s been charged with murder.
As we reflect on those we’ve lost, please remember the families of our fallen as well. The average age of the fallen is 40, the average tour-of-duty is 11 years. In addition to losing 15 law enforcement professionals in the line-of-duty this year, there are 7 widows and 17 children who lost a parent. Remember to back the badge and spread the word. They need us just as much as we need them.