Director Thanks Law Enforcement Partners in Police Week Message

Video Transcript

This week, National Police Week, thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world gather in Washington, D.C to honor and remember colleagues who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

FBI Director James Comey, through a video message, expressed his personal thanks to our law enforcement partners—those who have “made the ultimate sacrifice to try and make their communities safe...and those of you who continue to do this work in the name of those we have lost.” Of the law enforcement profession, he said, “There are lots of ways to make a living. There’s no better way to make a life.”

Comey's remarks coincide with the release today of preliminary 2014 statistics on the number of law enforcement officers killed doing their job. The preliminary figures, compiled annually by the FBI, show 51 officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty. Another 44 officers were accidentally killed on the job.

In his video message, the Director described the “especially challenging relationship between law enforcement and the communities we serve" and called for law enforcement to “do our absolute best to try to see clearly those people we serve and to look for opportunities to have them see us."

"I’m confident," he said, "that if we have that conversation, and we have good clear seeing in both directions, we will heal some of the divisions we’re facing now around this country."