NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
Black Americans have long feared dying at the hands of police officers. Now, they are dying while trying to become police officers. An investigation by the Associated Press has revealed a troubling and deadly reality for Black police recruits, who died during training at disproportionately higher rates than their peers. The report found that nearly 60% of recruit deaths involved Black trainees, despite Black officers comprising just 12% of local police forces.
Many of the deceased recruits carried sickle cell trait, a genetic condition that, under extreme exertion, increases the risk of severe injury or death. Up to 3 million Black citizens in the U.S. have sickle cell trait, yet many adults with the genetic condition don’t know their status, researchers say. Unlike people with sickle cell disease, they carry only one gene for sickle cell and one normal gene. The condition, diagnosed through a blood test, doesn’t usually affect their daily lives. However, it can cause decreased blood flow and muscle breakdown after intense exertion, dehydration, or high body temperatures. In very rare cases, that can result in collapse and death. Despite evidence that strenuous police training can trigger fatal collapses, the Associated Press found that few police academies screen recruits for the condition or implement sufficient safety measures to prevent deaths.
Among the recruits who lost their lives was Ronald Donat, a Haitian immigrant who had long aspired to join law enforcement. Donat, a fit soccer player with no known heart issues, collapsed during his first day of training at Georgia’s Gwinnett County Police Department Academy. Instructors ordered an intense workout, pushing recruits through grueling drills. When Donat struggled with air squats, an instructor shouted, ‘You are dead!’ before he collapsed.
Donat’s wife, Sharline Volcy, had initially discouraged him from pursuing law enforcement, fearing for his safety. After he was declared dead at a hospital, the county ruled that he died of natural causes, citing an enlarged heart. The autopsy report did not mention sickle cell trait, but Volcy believes her husband had it, as their daughters carry the trait.
The investigation documented cases in which Black recruits in distress were denied breaks or hydration, exacerbating their risk of fatal collapse. One Texas recruit, caught on video, begged for water but was denied by an instructor who stated, ‘You can’t get water in a fight.’ He collapsed minutes later. In Arkansas, a cadet died after being forced to run in long pants under the scorching midday sun. In North Carolina, a recruit’s body temperature reached 106 degrees by the time he died, following an hourlong obstacle course with no water breaks.
Dr. Randy Eichner, a retired professor at the University of Oklahoma, has long warned of a ‘troubling spate of exertional collapse and death’ among police trainees. The National Collegiate Athletic Association and the U.S. military have taken steps to screen for sickle cell trait and implement protective measures, significantly reducing the number of deaths in physically demanding settings. However, the report found that most police academies have not followed suit.
Bill Alexander, CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, acknowledged that some deaths could be prevented but insisted that fatalities will always be a risk in policing. Critics argue that such an acceptance of risk ignores systemic failures in academy training, particularly the resistance to implementing basic safeguards such as hydration breaks, heat monitoring, and immediate medical intervention.
Because most of the recruits in the investigation hadn’t been sworn in as officers before they died, their names don’t appear on the national memorial for deceased officers or some state memorials. And many of their families can’t qualify for death benefits. Aware of those stakes last year, the police chief in Knoxville, Tennessee, summoned a judge to the hospital room of unconscious recruit Wisbens Antoine.
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On that February night, a fellow recruit took the oath on behalf of Antoine, who’d collapsed during training a week before graduation.
Hours later, Officer Antoine, 32, died, leaving behind a wife and two daughters.
Following Donat’s death, Gwinnett County now requires an ambulance on-site during first-day workouts. However, it has not implemented screening for sickle cell trait. An internal investigation by the department concluded that no policy violations occurred and no disciplinary actions were taken.
The AP’s report concluded that, despite the preventable nature of these tragedies, there has been little accountability. The researchers reported that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) did not investigate Donat’s case because local government agencies are not under its jurisdiction, a common limitation that leaves police recruits with fewer workplace safety protections.
“This sad tragedy is preventable,” Dr. Eichner insisted. “But [it] will not become so until our police chiefs begin to heed the message.”
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