Focus on Officer Traffic Safety

• NCJ Number: 249787
• Journal: Techbeat Dated: February 2016 Pages: 3-3
• Author(s): Becky Lewis
• Date Published: February 2016
• Length: 1 page
• Grant Number(s): 2014-IJ-CX-K404
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Award: A proposal to operate the National Criminal Justice Technology Resource Center.

Annotation

This introductory page to the TECHBeat, February 2016 issue on officer safety while driving and enforcing traffic laws presents data that show the prevalence of officer line-of-duty, traffic-related deaths from 2005 through 2014, so as to emphasize the importance of officer safety training in this domain of law enforcement.

Abstract

From 2005 through 2014, 616 officers died in traffic-related incidents, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. This figure includes 414 auto crashes, 68 motorcycle crashes, and 134 incidents of officers struck by vehicles. The same data source reports preliminary data for 2015 of 52 officer deaths in traffic-related incidents. The February 2016 issue of TECHBeat contains articles on the importance of officers wearing high-visibility apparel when engaged in out-of-vehicle traffic enforcement duties, academy and continuing training in observing driving safety principles when responding to emergency calls, and a description of Michigan's academy driving training program for recruits. A sample of resources on officer traffic-related safety is also provided in this TECHBeat issue.