News 12 This Morning / Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012

AIKEN, S.C. -- As the city mourns the loss of its first female officer, the entire state, along with the country, is becoming aware of the death of Master Cpl. Sandy Rogers.

"Aiken lost a good one," said Sgt. Chris Chavous with the Aiken County Sheriff's Office.

Online, the Officer Down Memorial Page is filled with messages of support for Cpl. Rogers.

Of the 14 officers who have already died in the line of duty this January,
Cpl. Rogers is the first and only female in South Carolina to die. Georgia had one female officer die as well this month.

Michelle Burton, who knew Rogers said, "Here she was working for this department for 28 years, most of her adult life. It hurts."

Female officers putting their lives on the line isn't a common trend.

Over the years, a total of 11 female officers have died in Georgia out of 628 total deaths. In South Carolina, Cpl. Rogers' death brings it to less than a percent of the entire law enforcement population for the state.

"She worked for the police department for years. It's just unbelievable something like this happened to her or anyone else," said Brenda Hall, who also knew Cpl. Rogers.

A look at the numbers for fallen officers in 2011 shows 165 officers died while protecting their communities. The overwhelming majority who died were males.

Overall, the numbers don't have much of a trend. A look back on the last five years shows the numbers of fallen officers average out to 163 officers every year.

Numbers from the past five years:
2007: 200 fallen officers
2008: 151 fallen officers
2009: 138 fallen officers
2010: 161 fallen officers
2011: 165 fallen officers

For this community, the numbers don't matter. One death is too many.