I ran across this illustration of the most dangerous jobs. It brought me back to the realities I described in those years when I taught. I was both an aggie and a sociologist – eventually being lucky enough to work in a rural sociology department that was part of the ag-bio college. In general, sociologists work with criminal justice types who note the dangers in police work. Rural sociologists, particularly those in an ag college know that the real dangerous jobs are in the three F’s – Farming, Fishing and Forests.
Confirmation bias – we see the danger of police work in stories, movies and on television. The dangers of logging and farming show up personally, in injuries or deaths to the people we know. I’m a sociologist, an aggie, and grew up in a community centered around logging. Moving from logging to police work is still a step closer to coming home safely every night.
Generally speaking, police are good drivers. Still, for many years, there were more police deaths due to auto accidents than felonious assaults. By 2024, that changed – of 147 police deaths, 52 died from gunfire and 46 due to traffic accidents. The world has changed from when I started teaching.
I would prefer a world where farming, fishing, and logging were safer – and the same for police work. Unfortunately that isn’t the way to bet. Still, the statistics show that moving from a logging career to police work does improve your chances of coming home at the end of the day.
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