Police organizational structure

Michael Davis, Director of Public Safety at Northeastern University, discusses the concept of procedural justice and how it can be integrated into policing operations to improve community relations and address crime challenges.

In this Research for the Real World seminar, forward-looking figures in the law enforcement community examine how law enforcement can be improved through the adoption of community-minded policies.

Each year, 100-200 law enforcement officers die in the line of duty. Last year, 177 lost their lives — a 16-percent increase from 2010. As Attorney General Eric Holder noted, this is a devastating and unacceptable trend. NIJ has developed a robust research portfolio to improve officer safety and wellness and, ultimately, save lives. This panel discussed some of NIJ's most promising work to reduce shooting and traffic-related fatalities — consistently the leading causes of officer line-of-duty deaths — and improve officer wellness, which is inextricably linked with officer safety.