Many!
How many?
It’s out of the question, honestly.
Answering exactly how many lives do police save a year is hard.
Let me try to explain:
Law enforcement officers save lives
There is no single doubt about it.
Police officers save countless lives each year!
The number of lives that they save is unthinkable.
To prove my point, you can do a Google search on “Cop Saves life” or check for “police officer saving lives” on Youtube.
You will find thousands of results!
The excellent police work from dedicated officers prevents mass killings and deaths.
These numbers are impossible to count because you can’t count things that never happened.
The downside of working on crime prevention is that you can’t measure your efficiency.
Of course:
The police often come too late… After someone has been victimized.
This is inevitable.
Police officers save lives in a variety of situations
Car accidents: Police officers often arrive fast at car accident scenes where people are injured.
The officers will then treat the patients until the other first-responders arrive, like paramedics.
Violent incidents: When there is a physical fight between people, cops will come. If it wasn’t for the fact that the police officers arrived, some of the victims could have been killed.
Responding to domestic violence where a male (typically) beats a female. Numerous women living in domestic violence households are being killed each year. Some of these victims are often saved by the police.
Other accidents: Drunked people, falling downstairs, from roofs, ladders, etc.
Often occasions, police officers find severely injured persons and start treating them.
During crime investigation: Often, the police officers investigate criminal cases that lead to arrests. Arresting a violent criminal or a killer might save future lives.
Working with drug addicts: Working with drug addicts is a routine for most cops. When working in these environments, you will sooner or later come across a drug overdose case. This happens OFTEN.
In some places, police officers are equipped with Narcan. Narcan reverses the effect of an opioid overdose. Narcan is used countless times by cops to stop drug overdoses.
Stopping drunk drivers: How many times does the police stop drunk drivers? Each of those drivers is a danger in the traffic. The damage potential of a car driver out of control is enormous.
Police presence: Has the presence of the police stopped murder or criminal acts that could’ve developed into killings? It is not a confirmed theory, but it is very likely.
Keeping criminals off the streets: Arresting bad people can prevent murders in the streets. One can never know.
The use of intelligence: Police officers often know when and where crimes might happen because of their intelligence. Positioning patrol cars and police officers at the right spots or planning arrests based on intelligence might save lives.
Suicide attempts: Law enforcement officers often respond to suicidal persons. They talk them down and sometimes physically stop them from taking their own life.
But… Police officers also take lives!
Yes, you are right.
Sometimes death was unnecessary. Sometimes it was inevitable and even necessary to save the lives of other innocent people.
Anyway, that is not what this article is about, so I will not dwell anymore on that here.
How do cops save lives?
By being well trained.
By being dedicated to their work.
By being human just like anyone else.
Many wonder if the police do CPR or if cops are medically trained.
Let me be clear:
Law enforcement officers have training in first-aid and CPR.
First-aid is one of many crucial police officer skills.
Of course, not as much as it is for EMTs and paramedics.
But it’s often enough to keep a person alive until the health professionals arrive.
There are often some first-aid gears in the patrol car. People would have died if not for the right first-aid equipment in some situations.
Cops have an obligation to protect lives. That’s part of our work. This means that cops cannot afford to look the other way when someone needs help to stay alive.
Cops are also human beings. Being a human being simply means that you will do everything possible to help someone in an emergency.
There is a website, copssavelives.org, focusing on officers saving lives.
There are other heroes too!
The focus of this article is on the police.
But let’s not forget the other first-responders saving lives. Paramedics, doctors, nurses, firefighters, etc.
Civilians also save lives.
Just because they were present and did something to help.
Civilians stop crimes as well.
There are surprisingly many people around the world who are everyday heroes and help save lives.
The best answer to How many lives do police save a year
Cops = Safer communities and lives saved.
There is no doubt, cops save lives.
Without a police force, the number of killings and deaths would increase.
It’s hard to imagine a society without police officers.
The police get a lot of stress from the media and the public, who only focus on the negative.
It’s an thankless job most of the time.
But the vast majority of officers are proud to serve their community.
They get up in the morning to do a job that many people won’t.
They risk their own lives and health in the line of duty.
Cops are saving lives.
Please let’s appreciate the job police officers do.
If you consider becoming a law enforcement officer yourself, see our article about if YOU should become a cop