Date of Conferral

2-14-2024

Date of Award

February 2024

Degree

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

School

Health Services

Advisor

Sue Subocz

Abstract

In 2020, more than half of United States law enforcement officer deaths were attributed to COVID-19, spurring the need for further investigation into the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on this category of frontline essential workers. The purpose of this quantitative secondary data analysis study was to investigate the existence of associations between U.S. law enforcement officer deaths (SARS-CoV-2, non-SARS-CoV-2, or other duty-related) and the geographic region, as well as year of death while controlling for the officer rank, age, and sex. Based on the conceptual framework for evaluating mortality and morbidity following large-scale disasters from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, a public data set (collected through a cross-sectional design) on officer deaths from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression. Results showed statistically significant associations between US law enforcement deaths and geographic region, as well as years of death (p < 0.001). Compared to the West, there was greater likelihood of reporting SARS-CoV-2-related deaths in the South region (Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR) = 0.49, 95% CI [.333, .731], p < 0.001) and a significant association between COVID-related law enforcement deaths in the years 2020 (AOR = 0.24, 95% CI [0.16,0.37], p < 0.001) and 2021 (AOR = 0.17, 95% CI [0.11,0.25], p < 0.001) compared to 2022. Implications for positive social change include the development of public health initiatives aimed at mitigating the impact of infectious disease disasters on law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.

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