BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.—On average, a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty every 57 hours in the United States. According to the FBI, 41 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2015.
Report: 2016 Line of Duty Deaths Rise
For many law enforcement officers nationwide, they say they worry that the growing anti-cop rhetoric stemming from a handful of racially-charged incidents is making their jobs even more dangerous and harder to do. With five months left in the year, there have already been 69 fatalities involving law enforcement officers—already surpassing last year’s numbers.
“Times have really changed. I wish there was a way to stop what’s starting right now because all I see right now is a small civil war,” stated Will Rogers, a retired captain with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office. “I hate that because I have so many friends out there—white, black, Hispanic—I don’t want to see any of them get hurt.”
According to a recent report, shooting deaths involving law enforcement officers spiked 78 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to last year, including an alarming increase in ambush-style assaults like the ones that killed eight officers in Dallas, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana last month.
“It’s dangerous, especially at nighttime. You don’t know who’s around the corner, if they like you or not,” explained Rogers. “When you run a suspect’s prior record, you get to find out if they’re a good guy or a bad guy who’s been violating the law their whole life.”
Officer Down: May 14th, 2015
Rogers, who spent more than 30 years in law enforcement, nearly became a statistic himself. On May 14th, 2015, Rogers was shot in the back of the head at a Moncks Corner gas station on Highway 52. He was left for dead.
“I didn’t even know that I had been hit. I thought I had fallen down and hit the concrete,” stated Rogers. “I thought I had two people who were trying to hold me down, but they were actually trying to help me up. They told me that I’d been shot. I said, ‘No, I’d fallen down.’”
The veteran deputy was airlifted to MUSC where he wasn’t expected to survive.
“The surgeon told me that he didn’t think I would get off the operating table alive,” recalled Rogers. “He said he was doing everything he could, and it was going to be put in God’s hands.”
Today, Rogers’ recovery has been nothing short of a miracle. However, he admits his life has changed a lot since the shooting that nearly cost him his life.
“I have a scar across my head. I have to wear a special pair of glasses that cost a $1,000. Without them, I can’t see right or left. My peripheral vision is gone,” stated Rogers. “My driver’s license expired while I was in the hospital, so if I want to drive again, I have to go take the test.”
In early 2016, he retired from the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, a place he had worked since 1991.
“I miss it every day. Some of my officers stop by my house on occasion,” stated Rogers. “The sheriff told me I can also ride with them anytime I want to. I appreciate them.”
Shootout With A Constable
Although Rogers’ 2015 shooting attracted the attention of the national media, it wasn’t the first time he nearly came face-to-face with death.
In September 2014, Rogers assisted the Goose Creek Police Department on a domestic violence call involving a South Carolina constable.
“He started shooting at me, and I fired five shots,” stated Rogers. “He ended up being shot by a Goose Creek sniper after threatening several police officers and shooting at them as well as me. It’s a shame. It’s just terrible the world is going the way it’s going.”
No Regrets
According to Rogers, he owes his passion for law enforcement to his late father—Jimmy Rogers.
“Dad was sheriff of the county,” he stated. “I wanted to be like him.”
Despite nearly losing his life not once but twice, Rogers says he has no regrets choosing law enforcement as a career. If his health permitted, he would go back to work full time in a heartbeat, he says.
“I enjoyed every part of it,” stated Rogers. “I have three sons that want to do it. I told them all I’d help them get started in it.”
For Rogers, he took pride in not only helping keep his community stay safe from the “bad guys,” but he also enjoyed helping people in any way possible.
“I really enjoyed my career in law enforcement. I’ve gotten to help thousands of people. I’ve done anything from changing tires to helping people with warrants and turning their life around,” stated Rogers.
The War On Police
In the wake of the continued fatal shootings involving police, the National Fraternal Order of Police has renewed its efforts to expand federal hate crimes laws so that attacks targeting law enforcement officers are prosecuted as such.
Law enforcement associations have also doubled down on calls for officers to be extra cautious and follow safety precautions in order to not expose themselves to unnecessary risks.
Although Rogers no longer actively serves on patrol, he still fears the growing anti-police sentiment which has occasionally led to riots, more killings and increased racial division could ultimately result in martial law one day. Already, many law enforcement departments nationwide are struggling to fill slots with qualified applicants.
“It’s going to get harder and harder to find anybody to take the job of a police officer,” warned Rogers. “Right now, that’s the way it’s looking. I’m hoping it’s going to change and people one day will learn to get along. White, black, Hispanic—I don’t want another civil war.”
Rogers says he believes some anti-police groups are quick to rush to judgment without fully understanding all the facts of a case especially when deadly force by an officer is involved.
“There’ve been shootings that were justified, but trying to convince the public they’re justified is a different story. The public has never been in law enforcement. They don’t know entirely what we do for a living,” said Rogers.
While he believes people should have the right to protest the police, Rogers worries that some of the protests involving police are based on assumptions—not 100% truth.
“I think some of the people in these protests don’t know everything they’re protesting,” stated Rogers. “They know the short general part of a story. If they went over all the facts of a case and checked everybody that was involved in it, they may feel differently.”
Rogers says there are “bad apples” in every profession and that includes law enforcement. However, he believes the overwhelmingly majority of police officers are genuinely good.
“I’ve come home from work with broken ribs, blood everywhere, uniform completely ruined. The public doesn’t see that part of it,” stated Rogers. “All they see is us riding around and stopping at the convenience store to get a drink. That’s it. It’s not the way to be judged.”
A Deputy’s Wish
However, he hopes things will improve—including additional training for officers on how they can better protect themselves in the line of duty.
“I’m not going to take away from the academy. We have excellent training, but just because you do it at the office or the training center, it doesn’t compare to real life when someone is shooting at you. At the training center you don’t have anybody shooting at you,” he said. “When I went through training, we learned how to clear a house in the dark and in the daytime with a mirror, making sure nobody was around the corner. Sometimes you got “killed” during training, but then the instructors explained what you did wrong.”
In a perfect world, for Rogers, there would be no violence and the training mentioned above would be unnecessary. The killing of officers and innocent lives would also be no more, and everyone would just get along.
“I don’t want to see anybody get hurt,” stated Rogers.
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