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Killings Of Officers Nationwide Taking Toll On Law Enforcement, LA County Sheriff Says

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — "It makes the job that much more difficult" says Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell in responding to the recent deaths of law enforcement officers nationwide.

He sat down with CBS2's Randy Paige and in a one-on-one interview on Monday night discussed the recent challenges law enforcement officers face.

Challenges that include the Aug. 28 fatal shooting of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth in Houston, Texas, who was apparently chosen at random simply because he was wearing a uniform.

A few days later, in Illinois, Fox Lake police Lt. Joe Gliniewicz was gunned down during a foot chase and, on Sunday night, Kentucky State Trooper Joseph Ponder was cut down by a lone gunman during a chase.

McDonnell said the recent news was taking its toll on the men and women who continue to put their uniforms on each day and report to work.

He has spent most of his 35 years in law enforcement with the Los Angeles Police Department and says, for him, the hardest part of the job was informing parents when a child has died.

"And to see that young life cut down and to have to go back to the family and tell them, you know, that 'I'm sorry. I have some terrible news for you,' that's something that sticks with you for the rest of your time and to do that over and over again is very difficult," he said.

Then, there are the successes, like when a missing child is reunited with their parents.

"So much of the job helps put in perspective the part that's the tough part," he says.

McDonnell received the LAPD Medal of Valor, an award for bravery, and says policing now is more challenging than it has ever been.

But, he says, comes the reward of touching lives in those critical moments when tragedy strikes.

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