29 Police Recruits Around U.S. Died In Training Over A Decade

Ronald Donat’s dream of becoming a police officer was in jeopardy. The 41-year-old struggled to stand after completing a flurry of pushups, sprints and pullups in the notoriously grueling start of physical training that recruits call “Hell Day.” “You are dead!” classmates recall a sergeant berating Donat at the suburban Atlanta police academy. Donat, a Haitian immigrant on his third attempt to land a law enforcement job in 2021, assured instructors he wasn’t giving up. He managed to get off the ground and rejoin recruits in a bear crawl exercise. One hundred minutes after training, he was dead, reports the Associated Press. Donat is among at least 29 recruits who died during basic training at law enforcement academies around the U.S. in the last decade, an AP investigation found. Most died of exertion, dehydration, heat stroke and other conditions tied to intense exercise — often on the first day of training, like Donat. Others died several weeks in, suffering trauma during boxing or use-of-force drills or collapsing during high-stakes timed runs on hot days.

Experts and police advocates dsaid many of the deaths were preventable. No federal agency or outside organization comprehensively tracks recruit deaths, unlike officers who die in the line of duty. “Training shouldn’t have one death, much less 29,” said David Jude, a retired Kentucky State Police academy commander and instructor. “To hear that number, it is shocking.” Black recruits represented nearly 60% of those who died, a striking disparity given that federal data show Black officers made up 12% of local police forces. Many carried sickle cell trait, a condition most prevalent among Black Americans that increases the risk of serious injury after extreme exertion. Overall, the deaths amount to a tiny percentage of the nation’s 800,000 sworn officers but highlight another hazard in a profession where shootings, car accidents and other dangers are part of the job. The deaths have grown at a time when departments are tapping an older and more diverse pool of applicants to address officer shortages. More than two-thirds of the deaths occurred since 2020.