Friendswood police officer dies from ‘COVID-related illness’
FRIENDSWOOD TX December 29 2021
Friendswood police Sgt. James Dement, 57, a veteran officer, died Monday of a COVID- related illness, according to the police department.
The police department didn’t say whether Dement was vaccinated in its news release.
Dement worked for the Friendswood Police Department for 22 years. He joined the department in 1999 as a patrol officer. He also had worked as the city’s D.A.R.E officer and as a patrol supervisor, the city said in an announcement.
“His dedicated service will forever be remembered by the Friendswood community and Friendswood Police Department,” the city said in its news release.
Flags in the city will be lowered to half-staff in honor of Dement, according to the city.
Dement was born in Houston and was a graduate of Alvin High School and the University of Houston-Clear Lake, according to a 2005 Daily News article.
Policing was his second career. For many years, he worked as an accountant.
When he changed jobs, he told The Daily News he was seeking more fulfillment from his career.
“I wanted to get more involved in the community” Dement said. ”Going with law enforcement, I was getting more job satisfaction and I was more involved with the community.”
Over the course of the pandemic, COVID-19 has become a leading cause of death among law enforcement officers in the United States, according the Officer Down Memorial Page, a website that tracks line-of-duty deaths. There have been at least 322 COVID-19 reported deaths among law enforcement officers in 2021, according to the website.
The next most common death is gunfire, which has killed 59 law enforcement officers this year, according to the website.
