Over the past 10 years, a wide array of safety-related programs and initiatives have been developed in the policing profession for the purpose of reducing the number of officer related injuries and fatalities. Many of the programs, initiatives, and educational campaigns have developed through federal and national level law enforcement professional organizations such as the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the Major City Chiefs Association (MCC), and the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Fund (NLEOMF).
The BJA’s Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement and Ensuring Officer Resilience and Survivability (VALOR) Program is one such initiative that “assists law enforcement officers in responding to the increase in ambush-style assaults.”68 Through
the VALOR Program, “officers receive training and technical assistance as well as detailed analyses of past attacks.”69 These encounters are examined through lessons
learned and after-action reviews that are available through in person or web-based training seminars.70
In response to the increasing number of officers killed by gunfire in the past 10 years, “the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Program was developed by the BJA to assist law enforcement agencies in acquiring soft body armor for their personnel.”71
Research shows that “body armor has saved the lives of more than 3,000 officers when they encountered a life-threatening situation.”72 Funds are provided to state and local
jurisdictions by the BJA to assist in purchasing protective vests when agencies agree to adopt mandatory body armor wear policies for their officers. Attaching the award of grant
68 “What Is Valor,” VALOR, accessed June 21, 2015, http://www.valorforblue.org/Home/About. 69 “What Is Valor.”
70 Ibid.
71 Darrel Stephens, Mora L. Fiedler and Steven M. Edwards, OSW Group Annual Summary: Issues and Recommendations Discussed for Improving the Well-being of Police Officers (Washington, DC: Office
of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2012).
funding to mandatory body armor wear policies has increased the use of body armor nationwide.73
Below 100 is a national safety program that was developed by a group of dedicated law enforcement trainers to target areas of risk in the profession that were considered within an officer’s control, and in areas of the profession where a high number of line of duty deaths were occurring, such as response driving.74 The course was
developed after instructors reviewed thousands of line-of-duty death summaries and noticed trends in specific areas, and determined that many of these fatalities were preventable. The Below 100 program has evolved over time and is now managed by a non-profit organization that provides training to law enforcement agencies nationwide, with the goal of increasing safety and mitigating risk in areas where a large number of accidents and injuries are occurring.
In addition to dangers surrounding operation response, an increasing area for risk of injury or death in policing involves accidents during training. With advancements in technology, police trainers have developed more interactive and realistic training scenarios to better prepare officers for violent, physical encounters and develop strategies to de-escalate use of force incidents. With the increase in realism has come an increase in training injuries and fatalities.75 The vast majority of police training accidents occur in
defensive tactics and force on force classes.76 The existence of a cultural attitude
throughout law enforcement that training during force on force classes must be carried out in a manner to “toughen up” officers often leads to a lack of effective safety controls and injuries.77 This has led to the development of the Training Safety Officer (TSO)
Program.
73 Ibid.
74 Dale Stockton, “Officer Safety and Below 100.” Law and Order 63 (2015): 50–52.
75 Robert Boe and Randy Means, “Risk Management and Training Safety Officers,” Law and Order
(2014), 10–12.
76 David Griffith, “Training Accidents,” Police 37, no. 4 (2013), 47–51. 77 Griffith, “Training Accidents,” 47–51.
The TSO Program is a proactive effort to reduce training injuries and accidents by assigning a TSO to oversee the safety of the training session.78 TSOs incorporate risk
assessments, safety plans, safety briefings, inspections, and debriefing sessions into training exercises. TSOs are not involved in the actual training, but work closely with the instructional staff to deliver effective and safe training outcomes. Research from the IACP’s study Reducing Officer Injuries supports the reduction of injuries in scenario- based training with the adoption of these practices, especially during training on arrest procedures and the use of force. Despite these findings, many law enforcement agencies do not incorporate formal TSO Programs into their training practices.79
Examples of various safety programs that targeted specific police safety issues were discovered throughout this literature review. These programs were largely educational in nature such as LAPD’s campaign to gain officer compliance on their policy regarding mandated seatbelt usage; Arlington (TX) Police’s educational efforts and outreach to reduce agency accidents from distracted driving; and the Prince George’s County (MD) Police’s efforts to eliminate preventable traffic-related fatalities among its ranks by encouraging slower response driving and seatbelt use.80 Other police safety
programs exhibited by various agencies include respiratory protection programs, programs to control and manage exposure to bloodborne pathogens, physical fitness, and stress management programs.
Lastly, advances in technology have contributed to officer safety efforts through the development of less lethal technology. Implementation of tools such as electronic control devices, more commonly known as Tasers, have enabled officers to effectively control and subdue violent subjects without having to engage in a physical confrontation. This has reduced injuries to officers and subjects being placed under arrest or detained when individuals exhibit emotional instability requiring intervention. Advances in personal protective equipment, such as ballistic shields, respirators, chemical protective
78 Robert Boe and Randy Means, “Risk Management and Training Safety Officers,” Law and Order
(2014): 10–12.
79 Boe and Means, “Risk Management,” 10–12
suits, have also provided enhanced protection for officers during violent encounters and exposure to communicative disease. Not all law enforcement agencies, however, have access to or have adopted these tools due to budgetary constraints or political restrictions.