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More than 700 Florida Police officers have been killed in the line of duty since records have been kept. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, their deaths, as well as the deaths of Tampa Police Officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab, have been memorialized in a relatively new statue on the grounds of the state capitol.

On the grounds of the state capitol, under the limbs of a giant oak, sits a monument titled “Officer Down.” It commemorates every officer’s and every family’s worst nightmare. Steve Slade of the Police Benevolence Association says the traffic stop that claimed the two Tampa officers is one of the most dangerous things cops do.

“You could be stopping a citizen for speeding and that citizen could be an escapee, someone who just got out of prison, who may have narcotics on them, who may have active warrants out on them, who made the decision that they’re not going back to jail,” Steve Slade with the Police Benevolence Association.

“Officer Down” was dedicated in 2009.

“Every 53 hours, an officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in America,”John Rivera, President of the Police Benevolence Association, said.

More than a statue, “Officer Down” is a time capsule. It’s filled with pictures and stories of the lives and deaths of dozens of officers.”

“We want future generations to know the sacrifices that these people made, and hopefully that will inspire others to keep us safe,” David Murell with the Police Benevolence Association said.

A Dixie County officer died in January. These two shootings bring the total to three this year. Last year, a total of eight officers died in the line of duty.

Each year in May, a Capitol ceremony commemorates the officers who lost their lives the previous year. History suggests there will be more names than just the three officers who have died so far in 2010.

In 2008 and 2009, Florida was ranked as one of the top three states in the number of officers dying in the line of duty.