As we travel into the New Year, it is critical that we remember and honor the sacrifices of the men and women in blue who watch over our communities and stand ready to serve and protect their fellow citizens at all times. Listed below are the seven Police Officers who gave the ultimate sacrifice in December 2016.

1. Trooper Frankie Lamar Williams, 31, of the New Jersey State Police, was killed on December 5 in a vehicle collision. Trooper Williams was responding to a call for service when a vehicle crossed the grass meridian of the highway and crashed head-on into Trooper William’s vehicle. Frankie Lamar Williams had served the people of New Jersey for eleven months.
2. Deputy Sheriff Ryan Thomas, 30, of the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office, was killed on December 6 in an automobile accident. Deputy Thomas was responding to a call for service when his patrol car left the roadway and crashed, where he suffered fatal injuries. Ryan Thomas had served the people of Valencia County, New Mexico for one year and is survived by his expectant wife and child.
3. Police Officer Nicholas Ryan Smarr, 25, of the Americus Police Department, was killed on December 7 in a shootout. Officer Smarr and Public Safety Officer Jody Carl Smith were responding to a domestic violence report when they encountered a male with outstanding felony warrants at the property. The suspect drew a weapon and shot both officers before he fled the scene.  Though wounded, Officer Smarr returned fire and then performed CPR on Officer Smith until he lost consciousness.  Responding Police Officers found Officer Smarr’s deceased body slumped over Officer Smith.  Officer Smith died of his wounds the following day.  The suspect later committed suicide when confronted by police officers.  Officers Smith and Smarr had been best friends since childhood.  Officer Smarr was planning to serve as the best man at Officer Smith’s wedding in May 2017.  Nicholas Ryan Smarr was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran with prior law enforcement experience who had served the people of Americus, Georgia, for one year.
4. Public Safety Officer Jody Carl Smith, 25, of the Georgia Southwestern State University Department of Public Safety, was killed on December 7 in a shootout. Officer Smith and Officer Nicholas Ryan Smarr were responding to a domestic violence report when they encountered a male with outstanding felony warrants at the property.  The suspect drew a weapon and shot both officers before he fled the scene.  Though wounded, Officer Smarr returned fire and then performed CPR on Officer Smith until he lost consciousness.  Responding Police Officers found Officer Smarr’s deceased body slumped over Officer Smith.  Officer Smith died of his wounds the following day.  The suspect later committed suicide when confronted by police officers.  Officers Smith and Smarr had been best friends since childhood.  Officer Smarr was planning to serve as the best man at Officer Smith’s wedding in May 2017.  Jody Carl Smith is survived by his fiancé.
5. Corrections Officer Lisa Mauldin, 47, of the Miller County Sheriff’s Office, was killed on December 19 when she was assaulted by a prisoner. Officer Mauldin and another officer were attacked by an inmate inside the Miller County Detention Center’s kitchen, with both officers being injured. Officer Mauldin later died from her wounds, and the other officer survived after being hospitalized.  The inmate was apprehended by law enforcement.  Lisa Mauldin is survived by her family.
6. Lieutenant William G. Fearon, 49, of the New Jersey State Police, lost his life on December 28 from cancer he had received following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Lieutenant Fearon developed the cancer during recovery work at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. William G. Fearon had served the people of New Jersey for twenty-two years and is survived by his wife and three children.
7. Trooper Landon E. Weaver, 23, of the Pennsylvania State Police, was killed on December 30 in a shootout. Trooper Weaver and another officer were investigating a domestic disturbance when the suspect shot and killed Trooper Weaver before escaping. The suspect was later killed during an altercation with law enforcement.  Landon E. Weaver had served the people of Pennsylvania for one year and is survived by his wife.

The holiday season at the close of 2016 presented a prime opportunity to spend time with loved ones and exchange gifts and good cheer, along with a few precious hours of which one could forget the troubles of our world.  But 900,000 Americans didn’t have that chance.  These men and women received no vacation days and could not afford to settle comfortably by the fireside with their families, blissfully unworried of what was happening outside.  The Police Officers of this nation stayed vigilant, leaving before their children woke on Christmas morning to go to work and patrolling their communities’ streets as the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve.

2016 has been a challenging year for law enforcement.  Over the twelve months 140 Police Officers have lost their lives, often in the process of defending their fellow citizens from those who would do them harm.  Over eighty of these Officers were intentionally killed by another person, with the others losing their lives in tragic accidents or due to health issues.  Most, either involved in a shootout or ambushed, were taken down by gunfire.  Among states, Texas suffered the highest loss of Police, with nineteen officers earning crisply folded American flags.  Out of 140 Officers, six were women, and November saw twenty-one deaths, the highest number of fatalities for a single month in 2016.  Alongside their human counterparts, thirty-four K9 Police dogs lost their lives during the year.

Couple these numbers with controversial and tension-raising events involving a small number of Officers, the majority of Police have found that enforcing this nation’s laws has become a considerably more difficult and risky profession.  From gunmen ambushing lawmen in their patrol cars to suspects opening fire on Officers protecting a crowd, several individuals have targeted Police in ways that this country has never before seen.

It is important for the average American to realize that there is a person behind the uniform.  It is crucial that people understand that, at the end of the day, the Officer seen patrolling the city streets is a mom or dad, a son or daughter, a spouse of sibling.  Police Officers should be appreciated by every member of the community, and the sacrifices made by those who died protecting the innocent must be remembered.  As 2017 dawns, we must come together as Americans to keep our communities safe and honor our men and women in blue.

Statistics from: Officer Down Memorial Page:

https://www.odmp.org/