Officer Shot in Line of Duty Highlights Daily Risks of the Job

Police officers in the Financial District during the Occupy Wall Street protests. Former cop and current law and criminal justice professor Eugene O'Donnell says that police do many more good things than bad, although they often don't make the news. Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK—Police Officer Peter Figoski died on Monday after being shot in the face while responding to a robbery in Brooklyn.

“Sometimes we may forget that these are human beings on the other side of the shield that have families,” said Councilman Jumaane Williams. “It’s a sad day.”

Figoski left behind a wife and four daughters.

The string of scandals recently making headlines, including the ticket-fixing operation and the racist social media comments, fade amid a sobering reminder of the protection police often provide. 

“What happened the other night in Brooklyn is what the police do every single day, really every single hour,” said former police officer and current John Jay College law and criminal justice professor Eugene O'Donnell. 

“Every single day the New York police are out there quietly making the city safer.”