The Thin Yellow Line

I was reading today about a security officer that had been killed in the line of duty while working at an apartment complex in Tampa, FL the day after Thanksgiving.  This story led me to another story about a security officer killed while working at an apartment community in Dallas, TX  about a month before that one, which led me to another, which led me to an alarming number of other stories, and I began to research (to the best that I was able, given the lack of clear statistics) to find out just how many security personnel are killed or wounded while working to protect and serve in our industry each year.  What I found was not only shocking and disturbing (there were 114 security officers killed in 2011 alone - comparable to the number of police officers killed while on the job in 2011 of 173), but I was also dismayed at the lack of organizations out there to help bring to light the bravery and sacrifice that so many in the security industry offer.  There are numerous groups around the country that belong to the "Thin Blue Line," which is an organization that honors fallen police officers around the country, and is represented by a black square with a blue line that goes down the middle of it.  This organization is important, and helps remember those police officers who have paid the ultimate price for their service.  But, in very few areas could I find any speak about those in the security industry who have paid that same price.  In similar fashion to the "Thin Blue Line," there is a symbol which represents those fallen security officers - a black square with a yellow line down the middle of it, or the "Thin Yellow Line."  But sadly, I found no actual group that represented this cause - only a few "splinter" groups out there.  To help spread awareness of this, we have created a new group called the "Thin Yellow Line" which can be found (at least for now) right here.  Additionally, we are working on an actual website where stories will be posted, events can be held, and (hopefully) a true national awareness can be created for such an important, yet all too often overlooked, cause.  If you would like to help us and participate, please visit our Facebook page and "like" it, or leave us a comment about your thoughts on this issue.