we're not immune we're human like
everybody else we're gonna suffer from
the same tragedies outside of the job
this has happened to be in the line of
duty
our folks worked them gave them every
opportunity got into a hospital gave
them every opportunity a devastating day
for public servants and especially law
enforcement across Northeast Florida
it's night the Jacksonville Sheriff's
Office mourns the unexpected death of
one of their own 48 year old officer
Lance Whitaker was a 17-year veteran the
police force and he died in an early
morning crash today just off i-95 near
Alta Drive he was responding to an
accident nearby police across
Jacksonville are wearing badges shrouded
to honor their brother and blue
Whittaker is the fifth Florida law
enforcement officer killed in the line
of duty this year tonight we have a copy
of the episode of cops that officer
Whitaker appeared on 14 years ago today
in that episode Whitaker talked about
how a ride-along with his buddy who was
a Jaso officer at the time motivated him
to join the Sheriff's Office 3 P years
prior he also made two arrests during
the filming of that TV show well listen
you're gonna go to jail for possession
of cocaine and resisting without
violence okay any questions yeah really
it's kind of chilling to see him 14
years ago today doing what he loved
protecting the streets of Jacksonville
officer Whitaker's death comes as the
nation is paying tribute to fallen
officers all across our country and just
days after the FBI released alarming
statistics about law enforcement killed
serving their communities News 4 Jax
reporter Erika Vanier is joining us live
outside of Fairfax
Eric these numbers are i opening
they are in fact this newly released
data simply says that there are two
leading causes to law enforcement death
one being a criminal acts against law
enforcement officers and two fatal
crashes and unfortunately it was a fatal
crash that is the reason why these flags
behind me are flying at half-staff the
crash that killed Jaso officer Lance
Whittaker comes just days after the FBI
released this sobering statistics on
officers killed in the line of duty
automobile accidents involving police
officers line of duty deaths or
typically been the number two cause of
death according to the FBI
last year 47 officers in the u.s. died
from accidents while on duty 29 of those
deaths involved officers killed in car
crashes already this year in the u.s. 13
law enforcement officers have died as a
result of crashes Sheriff Mike Williams
says this has always been one of his
concerns there you know if you get hurt
in this job one of the main ways you're
gonna get hurt in traffic a traffic
crash of some sort
and here's another sobering fact
according to the FBI of last year's 29
officer deaths on the road 15 of the
fatalities involved officers who were
not wearing seatbelts
two of those 15 include officers who
were sitting in parked cars FBI data
also shows that last year 46 law
enforcement officers died as a result of
criminal acts against them Fraternal
Order of Police vice president Randy
Reeves is not surprised by that number
given the fact that three law
enforcement officers in Florida were
shot to death within the past several
weeks it just shows you the danger that
officers see every single day 24 hours a
day seven days a week
now Reeves also went on to say that
there are some statistics out there that
go to show that there are quite a few
people who do support law enforcement
officers and that there is just a small
number of people who do not respect the
batch do not respect law enforcement
officers and do not respect law
enforcement officer lives reporting live
Erica Vijay channel 4 the local station
well today's loss is taking an emotional
toll on all law enforcement families
across our area informing the community
of this tragic news wasn't easy for
Sheriff Mike Williams we posted how he
informed our city of officer Whitaker's
death in its entirety on news 4 jacks
com