Appreciation Day draws attention to rising traffic fatalities
By Lou Michel
Buffalo News
BUFFALO, N.Y. — With an increased number of police officers dying in traffic accidents —an estimated 71 nationally last year — Western New York law enforcement drew attention to that fact Monday on Police Appreciation Day.
“Over half the officers killed were in traffic accidents,” acting U. S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter said during an interfaith police memorial service in St. Joseph’s Cathedral in downtown Buffalo.
A total of 140 died in the line of duty across the country in 2008.
Niagara County Sheriff James C. Voutour said that while officers are exempt from wearing seat belts under the state’s vehicle and traffic laws, he would like to see policies adopted requiring police to use them.
“The gunfire deaths are down, but accidents are up, with officers hit by vehicles or getting into accidents in their vehicles,” Voutour said. “We have a policy that our deputies have to wear seat belts, and they don’t mind.”
If other departments instituted the same policy, he said, it would be “a step in the right direction.”
As for gun-related deaths, Mehltretter said, 41 officers were killed last year nationwide.
“This number is down from 2007 but is still too high,” she said. “Fortunately, more than 70 percent of police now regularly wear bullet-resistant vests, compared to fewer than half a decade ago.”
A U.S. Justice Department initiative known as the Bulletproof Vest Partnership, Mehltretter added, has helped more than 11,900 jurisdictions purchase 450,000 vests since 1999.
Buffalo Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson said that it was fitting for families of those who have lost loved ones and the overall police community to come together during Police Memorial Week to recognize those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
“The officers often feel the loss of a fellow police officer as acutely as their family members do,” Gipson said.
Among other dignitaries present for the memorial service were Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown; Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard; Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III; Kenmore Police Chief Carl LaCorte, vice president of the Erie County Association of Chiefs of Police; and Jeannette A. Shields of Western New York COPS.
Shields’ son, Buffalo Police Officer James A. Shields, died in 2002 in a traffic accident on Delaware Avenue while investigating what turned out to be a fake robbery call.
Copyright 2009 Buffalo News