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T wo agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice have formed a partnership to address the major increase in deaths of law enforcement offcers in the line of duty from 2009 to 2011 (NLEOMF, 2011). U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder requested the initiative that resulted in the July 2011 partnership of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). Although deaths decreased in 2012, police agencies face several important, long-standing issues in improving offcer safety and wellness. While the effort initially focused on line-of-duty deaths of law enforcement offcers, it quickly became clear that improving offcer safety and reducing the costs associated with injuries was going to require a broader approach. Of increasingly greater concern was the huge and often underreported cost to local government from offcer injuries and illnesses. Injured-on-duty (IOD) costs are a problem for all police agencies, regardless of size. In smaller agencies, however, the costs can be fnancially devastating. There are approximately 18,000 police agencies in the United States. Of these, approximately 49 percent have nine or fewer offcers, 5 percent have between 10 and 24 offcers, and the remaining 46 percent of these agencies have 25 or more offcers (Bureau of Justice Statistics). A good number of ICMA members manage communities with smaller police forces. For the vast majority of local police agencies, a loss of one or two offcers—even for a relatively short term—can dramatically increase costs because of the necessity to pay overtime, which is generated by the need to cover minimum staffng requirements. In a 20-offcer department, covering two vacant positions through overtime adds 15 percent to personnel costs. BJA and COPS created the Offcer Safety and Wellness (OSW) Group to examine safety issues and provide information to the law enforcement feld that could help reduce injuries and deaths. OSW identifed 16 focus areas to guide work in meetings held in July and September 2011. Since that time, OSW has addressed six of these priorities: • Offcer gunfre injuries • Offcer deaths • Vehicle operation • Risk management • Education and training • Leadership's role in developing a culture of safety This article discusses OSW meeting topics along with some of the key recommendations that resulted from these deliberations. Offcer Gunfre and Deaths For the frst time in more than a decade, the number of offcers killed in the line of duty from frearms increased in 2011 for the third consecutive year (NELOMF, 2011, See Figure 1). The intentional killing of a police offcer has enormous impacts on the community, the police agency, and offcers' families. While any loss of life to violence is tragic, the situation in which offcers who lose their lives while protecting and serving their community is particularly devastating. It is a stark reminder to all offcers of their vulnerability. OSW engaged in a day of intense discussions on gunfre deaths and injuries, including a session on the research—what we know and don't know—presented by Professor Robert Kaminski from the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South Carolina. Police Chief Jane Castor, Tampa, Fla., also shared her experiences in the shooting deaths of two offcers on a traffc stop and the four-day search for the suspect. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Deputy Chief Benson Fairow, formerly with the Oakland, Calif. Police Department, described the events of March 21, 2009, when a lone gunman on a traffc stop killed two Oakland offcers. The same gunman also shot and killed two other offcers when they were searching an apartment for the suspect. Senior Fellow James "Chips" Stewart from the CNA Corporation had conducted independent reviews of the incidents in Tampa and Oakland as well as one that occurred in Baltimore. He also shared lessons learned from the three cases. Based on the research, case studies, background reading, individual expertise, and discussions, here is a summary of some of the OSW Group observations and recommendations: • A broader, more encompassing database should be developed that includes line-of-duty deaths and assaults, demographics on offenders and offcers, information on the types of calls that result in deaths and assaults, and lessons learned from incidents. • Safety products should be evaluated to determine effectiveness. • Police agencies should have current policies on: • Incident command • Offcer deaths (notifcations, family liaison, funeral planning) • Critical incident stress debriefng • Safety equipment (vests, seat belts) • Clear use-of-force and reporting directives • Communications (external and internal) • Memorandums of understanding with neighboring jurisdictions • Training in critical thinking and decision making would improve offcers' ability to work through these situations. • A process should be created to routinely inform officers across the country of offcer gunfre death and injury situations that provides offcers' insight into the incidents and www.lawandordermag.com 83