ATLANTA — Every day, officers put their lives in danger. To serve and protect is what they are trained to do. It doesn't always happen without penalty.
One veteran officer says domestic violence calls and traffic stops are the two that are most dangerous.
"Statistically, that's where we get injured the most," Vince Champion, Southeast Regional Director of International Brotherhood of Police said.
And that's what happened this week when two metro Atlanta officers were injured.
A Dunwoody police officer was dragged on I-285 and thrown from a vehicle during what was a routine traffic stop. In DeKalb County, an officer was wounded when he was responding to a domestic violence situation.
Champion, a 22-year veteran, who also represents the Atlanta Police Union, said he's experienced both.
He said traffic stops are especially dangerous when an officer stops a driver who knows they are connected to a crime. Often times, he said, they try to flee with a vehicle or on foot. Both can cause injuries.
"You also have to worry about other traffic, officers, their cars have been rear-ended, motorcycle officers have been run over in traffic," he said.
Champion said he's been run over four times. And he was also attacked by a domestic violence victim after he arrested the woman's husband.
"She broke away from the EMTs and paramedics after I arrested him and jumped on my back and hit me in the head with a stiletto and I had twelve stitches in the back of my head," Champion said.
And then there are the things you may not always hear about -- like losing limbs or breaking fingers while putting someone in handcuffs.
"You don't know how many times we've been bitten," he said. "People spit on us all the time."
And that was no different this week when the two officers were injured on the job in metro Atlanta.
"The injuries are there. They're always going to be there and there's nothing we can do to stop a lot of that."
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