Committees, Divisions & Sections

Committees
Divisions
Sections

Current SACOP projects:

• SACOP High Visibility Enforcement Support
• State Association Conference Training
• Management Practices of State Associations
• SafeShield Project

SACOP High Visibility Enforcement Support:

August 1, 2007

Dear Law Enforcement Colleague:

Impaired driving continues to be one of North America’s greatest and most persistent threats to public safety. Impaired driving leads all causes of death for those persons ages 3 to 33 years old, regardless of race, gender, or any other factor. Our society is ready to support law enforcement’s lead role in ending this epidemic.

Strong leadership is required to ensure that committed traffic enforcement is successful. Whether used as part of a community policing program or a crime prevention strategy, sustained enforcement of impaired driving laws demonstrates an agency’s commitment to the safety of the citizens they serve. It is critical that law enforcement leaders implement and prioritize activities aimed at reducing incidents of impaired driving and related crashes that can result in fatalities and disabling injuries. A clear and consistent message of support and encouragement for strengthened enforcement initiatives is imperative.

The Division of State Associations of Chiefs of Police (SACOP) of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is fully engaged in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to bring you the information you need to implement effective, consistent, sustained enforcement in combating impaired driving. The Sustained Impaired Driving Enforcement publication is an initial offering to assist you in this task, with many resources and initiatives for your consideration. And, through NHTSA, we have also been able to provide your state association with funds to promote the implementation of consistent enforcement. Please check with your association’s executive director for more information on that assistance.

The leadership of the Division fully believes that we can serve as a catalyst for change in our agencies, and the communities we serve. We invite you to join with us in prioritizing traffic law enforcement and using your leadership to make a difference in your agency and your community.

Sincerely,

Chief Yost Zakhary
Woodway Public Safety Department, Texas
SACOP General Chair

Sustained Impaired Driving Enforcement Newsletter

High visibility sustained enforcement efforts throughout the year, coupled with earned and paid media coverage has proven successful as an effective tool to address aggressively the impaired driving problem on state and local levels. Enforcement efforts were developed to assist law enforcement with planning and implementing certain specific enforcement strategies during the crackdown periods and sustained year long dedicated enforcement. The IACP Division of State Associations of Chiefs of Police (SACOP), under a grant funded by the NHTSA, undertook a nationwide project to measure and enhance the level of local agencies’ support for and participation in impaired driving enforcement efforts. Between February 17 and March 28, 2005, SACOP solicited participation from the state associations and their members. A total of 2,076 usable responses were received via the Internet, and every state in the nation is represented. Each state association has received a report that shows the results for that state, how it compares to their SACOP region and to the nation as a whole. Electronic copies for each state and region can be accessed here.		Click the links below to view Newsletters in PDF format.
		February 2008
		August 2007

The next stage of the project will identify strategies and partnerships created between agencies and organization that focus on any level of DWI enforcement efforts at municipal levels. Obstacles to conducting sustained and periodic DWI enforcement will be identified. SACOP and other partners involved in DWI enforcement will explore and report on solutions to those barriers.

• 2008 Labor Day Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. Timeline
• Stop IMPAIRED Driving
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration home website
• Enforcement Saves Lives – Crackdown on Unbuckled and Impaired Drivers
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving
• National Liquor Law Enforcement Association

SACOP shall work closely with NHTSA, its regions, state highway safety offices, municipal agencies, and its membership to promote the use of the high visibility enforcement efforts.

For more information, contact SACOP Project Assistant Kristine Pablo-Nagales.

State Association Conference Training:

The Crime Prevention Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) advocates embedding crime prevention as a policing strategy. To do this, the committee seeks to raise the awareness of crime prevention programs, and anchor crime prevention in each department’s administration and operational policy and procedures. In partnering with the Division of State Associations of Chiefs of Police (SACOP), the committee has designed a 3 hour training session to be used at the annual conferences of state associations, which will demonstrate the necessity of crime prevention as an integral part of agency operations, and provide tools to begin the process.

Project Goals:

• To increase the awareness of crime prevention as a necessary policing strategy.
• To provide the background and usefulness of the crime prevention philosophy.
• To provide tools and solutions to enhance local law enforcement’s ability to employ effective crime prevention and security programs and strategies.

Project Objectives:

• Bring together representatives of the IACP Crime Prevention Committee and SACOP to develop a three-hour training curriculum for law enforcement executives.
• Deliver the program to ten state association conferences for their member executives.

Management Practices of State Associations

SACOP is now pursuing a long-standing interest: that of increasing management and leadership skills of the heads of the state associations. To that end, SACOP will continue to sponsor studies and workshops, as well as compile current management practices of the state associations. SACOP representatives will work toward formulating standards for management and leadership practices for their state associations.

SafeShield Project

During the 2002 midyear meeting of the Division of State Associations of Chiefs of Police (SACOP) in Park City, Utah, the SACOP membership overwhelmingly voted to adopt officer safety as a division project, and formed a committee to look into the problem. Initially named Peace Officer Safety and Technology (POST), this project was renamed SafeShield in 2005 to more accurately convey the sense of the project.

The SafeShield project critically examines the police uniform and looks at technology to improve the uniform as a protective/communication/information system. The goal is to have a design for the uniform that will incorporate protective systems into the uniform. This is a long-term project, which encourages imaginative, creative thinking to find ways to the ultimate goal of total police protection.

In addition to considering uniform improvements, the SafeShield project will review and recommend sound procedural policies, and advocate increasing and improving training, with the end goal of sending officers home safely every day.

Partners in this project have been carefully selected from many avenues. Corporate partners, IACP committees and experts in the field have lent their expertise on technological advances not yet available to the law enforcement community.

The SACOP Division is enthusiastic about this opportunity to increase officer safety, with the ultimate goal of zero officers killed or injured. This project brings together varied law enforcement groups and private industry representatives to increase the quality, availability, and effectiveness of officer safety products. It raises the awareness of the issue’s scope and severity, and will impact the law enforcement community by reducing the injuries suffered within its ranks.

For more information, contact SACOP Manager Beth Currier.