Police Officer Jeremy Martin Wilkins

Jeremy Martin Wilkins

Police Officer Jeremy Wilkins died from complications as a result of contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty while serving an arrest warrant at 498 South Arizona Avenue in Chandler.

Officer Wilkins had served with the Chandler Police Department for nine years and had previously served the Prescott Valley Police Department for four years. He had also served as a police officer in Michigan with the Detroit Police Department for two years, the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police Department for four years, and the St. Louis Police Department for two years. He is survived by his wife, five children, grandchildren, mother, and father.

The Effects of COVID on Law Enforcement

Beginning in early 2020, thousands of law enforcement officers and other first responders throughout the country began to contract COVID-19 during the worldwide pandemic. Due to the nature of their job, law enforcement officers were required to work and interact with the community even as the majority of the country was self-quarantined. As a result, hundreds of officers died from COVID-related illnesses and other complications.

Corrections agencies, in particular, suffered tremendous losses due to the constant and close proximity between the corrections officers and large inmate populations. Since March 2020, ODMP has verified that over 900 law enforcement officers have died as the result of a confirmed or presumed exposure while on duty and continues to work with hundreds of other agencies that have suffered a COVID-related death.

Visit ODMP's COVID-19 memorial listing every officer who has died as a result of a confirmed or presumed exposure.