Officer Safety Corner

Officer Safety Corner is a monthly column within the Police Chief magazine (beginning May 2012) that builds on the work of SafeShield, the IACP’s portfolio of officer safety initiatives. SafeShield’s organizing philosophy is that law enforcement leaders cannot accept the proposition that accidents or injuries are a reality of the law enforcement profession. The only acceptable belief is zero officers killed or injured. The column will focus on lessons learned, overall wellness, training, and statistical analysis from the IACP’s National Center for the Prevention of Violence Against the Police.

Articles may be submitted by the law enforcement community to appear in the Officer Safety Corner by following these guidelines.

Questions regarding the Officer Safety Corner may be sent to Erin Vermilye at vermilye@theiacp.org.

COLUMN TOPICS

May 2012: National Data Collection: A Call to Action
The best quality data on police officer injuries and line of duty deaths exist in police incident reports, however these reports are not adequately shared and some agencies are reluctant to release information. This column discusses the difficulties and need to obtain quality data so analysis may be conducted to prevent officer injuries.