Search Result: Officer Safety

On average, 60,000 officers are assaulted on the job every year. That's an average of 164 per day. The risk level you face on the job makes it important not only to resist complacency and to follow prudent tactics, but also to understand how to ensure that your interactions with suspects are constitutionally justifiable, so that you are never forced to choose between being safe and being sued.

Most attacks on law enforcement officers occur at a range of 10 feet. Are you training for them?

Navigating the dangers of cookers’ “kitchens.”

Most departments forget to train officers for one very dangerous time on the job: the “safe” times, after a suspect has been arrested.

When it comes to apprehending fleeing suspects, understanding the tactics being used by those suspects is as important as understanding the tactics practiced by law enforcement. The criminal element has learned how law enforcement operates and criminals have adjusted their tactics.

Ask risk managers to tell you what causes the majority of vehicular accidents, and they will all sing the same tune: "Backing Up Is Hard To Do."

As a law enforcement officer, what are the odds that the next person you stop has a concealed weapon within easy reach? Of course the answer depends on the circumstances, but nobody would argue that officers face the potential for harm with every single civilian encounter. The problem is that almost anything on or near a person of interest could conceal a covert weapon.

Departments also need to take steps to prepare their officers to work in and around water.

You can prevent a vehicle attack by taking a sound tactical position.

As an American law enforcement professional, you are a special individual who has followed a higher calling, voluntarily defending the lives and property of others. You have set yourselves apart as the true warriors of our modern society.

The other day a friend of mine had a rear-ender on duty that was caused by his responding to his MDT (Mobile Distracting Terminal) or MDC (Moving Destruction Computer) or whatever they are called.

Sold under the brand names AirMunition (sold by Advanced Interactive Systems) and Simunition FX, marking rounds are reduced power cartridges tipped with soft, colored plastic projectiles that splat against the target and leave a bright mark.

Ah, the first month of the new year. It’s a month of parties, football, snow or snowbirds (depending on where you live), and just generally good feelings. Then the winter wears on. Football ends for nearly everybody’s team; ice appears on the roadways at the worst time (who hasn’t had the thrill of that tactical 360-degree spin en route to a call); and all those resolutions you made suddenly become ancient history.

The proper equipment can make your training safer and more effective.

Be prepared for things to go south on every contact you make. You never know when you’ll need to take chase or pull your gun at a moment’s notice.

The bloodborne pathogens that you are most likely to come into contact with are the hepatitis B virus (HBV), the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This exposure can result in you becoming infected with one or more of these viruses. As such, it is important that you understand the medical implications of this serious occupational hazard.

While not generally regarded as one of the more obvious dangers of the job, an officer’s lunch break is not without its liabilities.