Current Trends in Officer Safety June 29, 2016 Craig W. Floyd Chairman & CEO National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
PowerPoint Presentation Available at: www.lawmemorial.org/lifesavers 2
VISION Memorial Fund Mission To inspire every citizen to value law enforcement MISSION To tell the story of American law enforcement and to make it safer for those who serve 3
32 Years of Service and Achievement Established in 1984 National Memorial dedicated Making it safer for officers Flags lowered on May 15 Commemorative Silver Dollar Officer of the Month National Police Week National Museum Database of officer fatalities 4
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial 5
THE NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT MUSEUM 7
National Law Enforcement Museum 8
The Need for a Museum Story of American law enforcement has never been told Only 1 out of 5 Americans interact with officers Debunk the myths and stereotypes Strengthen partnership between officers and public Need to know inspiring stories behind the names 9
10 National Law Enforcement Museum
Museum Construction Underway Museum authorized by Congress in 2000 $102 million construction cost $58 million in private funding raised Balance in tax-exempt financing secured in January Construction started Museum completion scheduled for 2018 www.upholdtheline.com 11
National Law Enforcement Museum Vision Three levels 57,000 square feet of space 420,000 visitors (100,000 school-age kids) annually High-tech, interactive exhibitions More than 17,000 artifacts already collected Dedicated spaces for research and education National center for law enforcement history and safety 12
IMPROVING OFFICER SAFETY 13
Service and Sacrifice: The Facts One officer is killed in America every 61 hours An average of 144 a year for the last 10 years 57,000 officers are assaulted by criminals annually More than 100,000 officers are injured annually 900,000 officers risk their lives daily 14
The Big Picture 20,790 officers killed in the line of duty Firearms-related deaths: 11,423 (55%) Traffic-related deaths: 5,938 (29%) Other causes: 3,429 (16%) 15
Breakdown of Traffic-Related Fatalities 5,938 Officers Killed in Traffic-Related Incidents Auto Crashes: 3,054 (51%) Struck and Killed: 1,339 (23%) Motorcycle Crashes: 1,331 (22%) Train and Bike Related: 214 (3%) 16
13 Total Traffic-Related Deaths by Department: 1791 2015 Municipal: 3,075 (52%) County: 1,266 (22%) State: 1,245 (21%) Federal: 208 (4%) Territorial: 70 (1%) Railroad: 42 (1%) Military: 12 (0.2%) Tribal: 11 (0.2%) University: 9 (0.2%) 17
Total Fatalities: 1791-2015 Officer Fatalities 350 300 250 200 150 100 301 (1930) 280 (1974) 241 (2001) 50 0 18
Average Annual Number of Officers Killed by Decade 244 223 232 191 141 120 120 158 162 166 136 88 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 19
Officers NOT Wearing Seat Belts in Fatal Auto Crashes 55% 39% 32% 2013 2014 2015* 27 *2015 is based on preliminary analysis
Single Vehicle Crashes Single vehicle crashes have generally increased since 2012 44 Single Vehicle 22 26 29 10 15 33 18 34 16 Multi Vehicle 22 16 14 15 18 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 21
Troubling Concerns In 2015, 32% of officers killed were not wearing body armor In 2015, 32% of officers killed in auto crashes were not wearing seatbelts In 2015, 49% of fatal auto crashes were single vehicle crashes 22
Troubling Concerns Over five-year period (2011 2015), 53% of officers killed in single vehicle crashes were on patrol or administrative assignment A total of 27 officers have been killed while deploying spike sticks since the first such incident in 1996 23
Troubling Concerns In 15 out of last 20 years more officers were killed in trafficrelated incidents than in firearms-related incidents 1,290 officers were killed in traffic-related incidents 1,113 officers were killed in firearms-related incidents 24
RECENT TRENDS 25
Profile of Officers Killed: 2015 Average age: 41 years old Average length of service: 12 years 114 (93%) were male; 9 (7%) were female 26 26
Law Enforcement Officer Fatalities: 2015 vs 2014 2015 2014 % Change Total Fatalities 123 122 1% Firearms-related 41 49-16% Traffic-related 48 49-2% Other Causes 34 24 42% 27 27
Officer Fatalities: 2016 vs 2015 (Year to date information as of June 29, 2016) 2016 2015 % Change Total Fatalities Firearms-related Traffic-related Other Causes 28
CHANGING THE CULTURE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT SAFETY 29
Officer Safety and Wellness Group Create environment that recognizes people for safe behavior Share lessons learned from bad outcome w/o punishment Need a robust peer review process Must have unified safety message buy-in from unions Establish national clearinghouse for best practices Emphasize safety message daily Agency heads/supervisors should lead by example (wear vests and seatbelts, do not engage in distracted driving)
Officer Safety and Wellness Group Get buy-in from elected officials show them cost-benefit data Establish a safety committee union and management Hire a safety officer First line supervisor needs authority to implement safety policies and discipline when appropriate do safety inspections Rules/policies need to be guided by the research/data If it matters, measure it a data-driven approach to safety
Officer Safety and Wellness Group Enhanced training at academy and in-service Driver simulated training is important Bring families into the safety messaging (UPS example)
Below 100 Principles Wear Your Belt Wear Your Vest Watch Your speed WIN What s Important Now? Remember: Complacency Kills! 33
Most Important Officer Safety Recommendation Do not accept/tolerate injuries and fatalities Destination Zero 34
NLEOMF Officer Safety and Wellness Initiatives Fallen Officer Database (since 1791) The importance of collecting data Key Projects Recently Fallen Alerts Primary Research (COPS) Destination Zero (BJA) VALOR Training (BJA) Traffic Safety (NHTSA) 35
Officer Safety and Wellness Programs
Destination Zero 2016 Winners PHOTO General Officer Safety: XYZ Officer Traffic Safety: XYZ Officer Wellness: XYZ Comprehensive Safety: XYZ 37
Destination Zero Training and equipment Body Armor Tactical First Aid Training and Equipment (i.e. tourniquets) Traffic Safety Programs Monitoring Messaging Campaigns Refresher Training Health and Wellness Programs Physical Fitness Mental Health Technology Safety Officers 38
Strategies for Success Top Down-leadership Marketing to achieve buyin Incentives Training and reminders Share resources with other agencies Innovation Using insurance incentives Vehicle monitoring Saves lives Saves money Creating a safety culture
Destination Zero Website Website serves as a resource for other departments to develop their own office safety and wellness programs www.destinationzero.org 40
Deeper dive into line of duty deaths from 2010-2014 Types of calls for service What information was dispatched Self initiated activity Common themes Tactics Weapon retention cases Trends in crashes Primary Research 41
Trends Identified Preliminary Trends Identified High risks associated with domestic dispute calls Officers being dispatched alone Officers not waiting for back up High risks associated with traffic stops Use of rifles against officers Failure to properly search suspects Weapon retention issues Officers crashing en route to assist fellow officers 42
Recommendations Preliminary Trends Identified Greater emphasis on two officer responses Request back up as needed and wait for it Evaluate the use of hard body armor for high threat situations Dispatchers need to monitor calls closely Consider passenger side approaches on traffic stops when appropriate Departmental policies and training must promote safety 43
NHTSA Traffic Safety Research & analyze trends Roll call presentation videos Traffic Safety handouts Social media messaging Promote Move Over laws 44
Action Steps to Consider Sign up for Recently Fallen Alerts Enter your profile on Officer Roll Call Visit www.destinationzero.org and share your agency program Support It s a Matter of Honor campaign and help build law enforcement s house Go to www.lawmemorial.org 45
PowerPoint Presentation Available at: www.lawmemorial.org/nsa. 46
Questions? For more information: Craig W. Floyd National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (202) 737-3400 cfloyd@nleomf.org www.lawmemorial.org 38 47