Protecting The Palm Beaches – March 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 16 heroes in the line of duty thus far this year.
We’ve lost this hero since the previous update:
- In California, Deputy Hector Cuevas, Jr. was killed in a crash while in pursuit of a suspect who’d stolen a vehicle. The suspect was detained by responding officers shortly after the crash and has been charged with manslaughter and DUI. He’s survived by a wife and two children.
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 16 law enforcement professionals in the line-of-duty this year, there are 8 widows and 19 children who lost a parent. Remember to back the badge and spread the word. They need us just as much as we need them.