The State Worker

Early next year, the state will officially name the junction of Interstate 5 and U.S. 50 in Sacramento to honor Caltrans employees killed in the line of duty,

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 100 lists the State Engineer Memorial Interchangeas one of 26 new highway designations that recall the distinguished service of groups and individuals who have passed away.

Ryan Endean, spokesman for Professional Engineers in Calfornia Government, expects an official naming ceremony in spring 2013.

Since 1924, some 178 California Department of Transportation employees have been killed on the job. The leading cause of death: errant drivers who strike road workers.

PHOTO: The Interstate 5 - State Route 50 interchange / courtesy Professional Engineers in California Government.

From Fresno's KSEE News: Caltrans employees killed in the line of duty were honored in a special ceremony Thursday morning.

(Caltrans has scheduled a similar ceremony at the State Capitol for May 9.)

California appears to be bucking two nationwide trends in deaths among law enforcement officers: a 14 percent rise across the country in the number of deaths from January through June and a spike in firearm-related deaths during the same period.

The preliminary data comes from the annual midyear report on officer fatalities from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which is available as a PDF here. So far this year, 98 officers have died across the country -- 12 more than in the first half of 2010. The fund's chairman Craig Floyd told USA Today that budget cuts are "putting communities at risk and officers at risk."

But in California, just four officers died between Jan. 1 and June 30 of this year. That's down during the same period from nine in 2010 and six in 2009.

The statewide totals for those years: In 2010, 11 officers died in the line of duty; seven died in 2009.

A CHP officer died Sunday night from injuries he suffered after a car hit his patrol vehicle, which in turn struck him near Paso Robles.

Officer Brett Oswald, 47, was a 21-year veteran of the CHP, according to this report by The Tribune of San Luis Obispo.

Oswald's death marks the fifth time a patrol officer has died in the line of duty since May and the second CHP death in one day. We noted the other fallen officers in this post.