More police officers have died from COVID-19 this year than all other causes combined

• The Officer Down Memorial Page and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) have compiled data on COVID-19-related police deaths.
• As of September 3, Officer Down recorded 101 COVID-19 deaths, while NLEOMF recorded 111 police officers had died after contracting COVID-19 while on-duty.
• COVID-19 deaths account for more than all other on-duty police deaths combined, the data says.

More police officers in the US have died from COVID-19 this year than all other causes combined, according to data from Officer Down Memorial Page and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF).

The data, first reported on by The Washington Post, shows that COVID-19 infections contracted while working have caused the deaths of at least 100 police officers this year.

As of September 3, Officer Down recorded 101 COVID-19 deaths, while NLEOMF recorded 111, among police officers, sheriff's deputies, correctional officers, federal law enforcement officers, and military police officers.

The organizations only record COVID-19 as the cause of death if an officer died after being exposed to the virus while on duty. Both organizations say they work to verify that officers had contracted the virus while on-duty as opposed to elsewhere.

Data available through Officer Down shows that the number of COVID-19 deaths is far higher than any other on-duty cause of death.

Gunfire killed 31 on-the-job officers, while other causes, including car accidents, heart attacks, and cancers related to fallout from the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 led to just over 50 deaths combined, Officer Down recorded.

Chris Cosgriff, executive director of Officer Down, told The Post that Officer Down is in the process of researching 150 more COVID-19 deaths among police officers.

"By the end of this pandemic, it is very likely that COVID will surpass 9/11 as the single largest incident cause of death for law enforcement officers," Cosgriff told The Post, referencing the 71 police officers who were killed in the 9/11 attacks, and the more than 300 who have died since from 9/11-related cancer.

But several reports from across the US have said police officers haven't been wearing face masks throughout the pandemic. Philadelphia Magazine, Tampa Bay Times, The New York Times, LAist, and more have published articles questioning police behavior and the choice of some officers to avoid masks.

Photos from Black Lives Matter protests showed police not wearing face masks, while one Florida sheriff even ordered his deputies not to wear masks.

It remains unknown if any of the COVID-19 deaths among police officers were connected to not wearing masks, though health experts say not wearing a face covering can cause the novel coronavirus to spread more quickly.