Addendum by Joshua Marshall:

Following up on the post below, just how dangerous is police work?

Turns out it's pretty dangerous. But by no means the most dangerous line of work. In 2007, policing was the tenth most dangerous job in the country. In 2005, the profession was not in the top ten.

The most dangerous jobs are fisherman, loggers, pilots, iron and steel workers, farmers, truckers, construction workers, etc.

The top ten most dangerous jobs [1]:

10. Policemen, 21.4 fatali...

Addendum by Joshua Marshall:

Following up on the post below, just how dangerous is police work?

Turns out it's pretty dangerous. But by no means the most dangerous line of work. In 2007, policing was the tenth most dangerous job in the country. In 2005, the profession was not in the top ten.

The most dangerous jobs are fisherman, loggers, pilots, iron and steel workers, farmers, truckers, construction workers, etc.

The top ten most dangerous jobs [1]:

10. Policemen, 21.4 fatalities per 100,000
9. Refuse collectors, 22.8 fatalities per 100,000
8. Drivers (truckers and salspeople), 26.2 fatalities per 100,000
7. Electrical power line reparies, 29.1 fatalities per 100,000
6. Roofers, 29.4 fatalities per 100,000
5. Famers & ranchers, 38.4 fatalities per 100,000
4. Iron & steel workers, 45.5 fatalities per 100,000
3. Pilots & flight engineers, 66.7 fatalities per 100,000
2. Loggers, 86.4 fatalities per 100,000
1. Fishers, 111.8 fatalities per 100,000

So the author (a reader of TPM) was way off base about firemen or cab drivers having a more dangerous job. But I think he/she still makes a good point about the dangers of romanticizing the police and treating them as military.