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Culture of Injury Acceptance? The IACP recently distributed a survey to law enforcement agencies nationwide, gathering basic officer injury data from previous years. A total of 698 agencies responded, documenting approximately 2,800 injuries and 24,000 lost work days. Additional analysis was done regarding the safety culture within those agencies. The study revealed that the overwhelming majority of law enforcement administrators believed the injuries were not preventable. Immediately it became clear that to make significant progress in the field of officer safety, attitudes have to change. Policing is a "contact sport" but agencies should not view injuries and lost workdays as unavoidable or acceptable. Organizations provide and require a significant amount of tactical training to increase officer awareness and reduce susceptibility to assaults but do much less to address other safety concerns. Law enforcement leaders should take account of the broader array of risk considerations and assert themselves more strenuously in those areas. Examples follow. Research estimates that the risk of a police officer dying from gunfire is 14 times greater without body armor than with it. Accepting that as fact, since 1980 ballistic vests could have saved more than 30 percent of the officers killed in the line of duty. When evaluating felonious assaults involving firearms, the save percentage is even higher. Despite this compelling data, some officers still choose not to wear their body armor, complaining that it is uncomfortable and stifling. Even more staggering is the number of agencies that provide body armor to their officers but do not require them to wear it. A survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) in collaboration with the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) found that although 99 percent of law enforcement agencies provide body armor to their officers, only 57 percent require them to wear it. So, this powerful safety measure is optional in many places. Even fewer agencies, 10 percent, inspect the armor for fit, coverage and damage and, of those who do, only half inspect them annually. Forty-nine states have adopted primary and secondary seatbelt laws. The specifics of these laws vary greatly from state to state and a few exempt public safety officials from their coverage. Most agencies, even in states where law doesn't mandate it, require by policy that officers use seatbelts. But enforcement is lax. Many officers go to great lengths to avoid wearing their seatbelts and have devised creative ways to shut off the automatic seatbelt indicators installed in newer model cruisers. This behavior is indicative of a much larger problem—the cultural acceptance that safety is not a priority. Organizational and agency failure to enforce their policies only strengthens this mindset. NHTSA found that 42 percent of the officers killed in motor vehicle accidents over the past three decades were not wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash. Next month: The risks of foot pursuits and solutions to manage that risk. LaO Post your comments on this story by visiting www.lawandordermag.com Click on EInfo at - www.lawandordermag.com reader service #8 www.lawandordermag.com 13