Harry Aurandt’s life was tough in the beginning. His father died before his second birthday. But his mother did a fine job raising him, and eventually Harry led a very successful life as a devoted family man and police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Unfortunately, however, Officer Aurandt’s life would end as tragically as it began. On Sunday evening, December 19, 1921, Harry and Tulsa’s chief detective, Ike Wilkinson, were driving on a road five miles from the city when they spotted a suspicious vehicle and stopped to investigate.

While thousands of others gathered to celebrate the New Year in downtown Baltimore on December 31, 2007, Courtney G. Brooks, a Maryland Transportation Authority police officer, was setting out cones along a busy interstate highway to keep commercial vehicles from coming into the city. Corporal Brooks, 40, was one of many officers that night who were giving up their own time with family and friends so others could enjoy the holiday.

For two decades, Franklin Township (NJ) Police Sergeant Ippolito “Lee” Gonzalez distinguished himself as a no-nonsense cop who had a keen eye for suspicious activity and never shied away from following his instincts. The night of May 6, 1995, was no different. At 10:30 p.m. – just a half hour before the end of his shift – Sergeant Gonzalez pulled over a suspicious vehicle occupied by two men. Working alone, he called for backup, but by the time assisting officers arrived, it was too late. As Sergeant Gonzalez was examining the driver’s license, he was shot twice, and died a few hours later.

More than 59,000 law enforcement officers were assaulted last year, according to the most recent statistic from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports. The annual report also shows that 57 officers were "feloniously killed" in 51 separate incidents for the reporting year 2007 in its' line-of-duty-deaths section. That's up from 48 in the previous year. "Offenders used firearms to kill 55 of the 57 victim officers. Of these 55 officers, 38 were slain with handguns, eight with rifles, and eight with shotguns," according to the Bureau.

Mario Moreno’s life ambition was to give back to his beloved community of San Antonio. Born and raised there, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from McCollum High School and served in Operation Desert Shield/Storm. But after four years of honorable military service, he chose to return home. While completing his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice at Wayland Baptist University, Mario joined the San Antonio Police Department in 1996. He excelled as an officer and was promoted to detective in June 2007, landing an assignment with the elite “Repeat Offender Task Force,” which targets some of the most violent recidivists in the city.