The Survivors' Club honors law enforcement officers who have survived a life-threatening situation as a result of wearing body armor. By recognizing officers through our program, we elevate the importance of wearing body armor for officer safety. The ultimate goal of the Survivors' Club is to reduce injury and death by encouraging officers to wear personal body armor during every shift.

Who Qualifies for the Survivors' Club?

To become a member of the IACP/DuPont™ KEVLAR Survivors' Club®, the officer must have survived a potentially life-threatening incident as a result of wearing personal body armor. The types of incidents that qualify a candidate for membership include firearm assaults and attacks with knives, clubs, chains, and other weapons. Also included are motor vehicle collisions, fires, and explosions. Any brand of body armor or ballistic material is acceptable for consideration. International participation is encouraged.

How the Program Works

Following the receipt of a completed award application, the application will be verified by the club administrator, ensuring the facts qualify the candidate for membership. It should be noted,  club candidates must be nominated by the chief/supervisor prior to filing the application with the club administrator. Upon acceptance into the club, new members will receive recognition by the IACP and DuPont in the form of a membership plaque and lapel pin as well a one-year subscription to Police Chief magazine. Club members will be awarded their personalized mementos through their departments.

Law Enforcement Agency's Role

For the program to be successful and to provide information that can effectively reduce the number of assaults on police officers, it is important for the law enforcement agency to take these simple, yet important steps:

     1. Notify the club administrator of the incident save.
     2. Nominate the officer through the completion of the assault/accident application.
     3. Present the awards to the officer.

We hope to obtain information about the assault/accident that will be helpful to the entire law enforcement community and to assist training strategies to avoid future incidents. The application process provides for nominating the officer to the Survivors' Club and to gather data on the incident.  The applicant can choose to keep the information contained in the application anonymous, if they choose.

The nominating agency can decide how to present the award to the officer. We do ask that the presentation be used to reinforce the importance of wearing body armor daily. It is our hope the presentation will also foster a greater relationship between the department's management and the operational units.

Contact us at osw@theiacp.org

Grundy County, Illinois, Grundy County Sheriff's Department Deputy Tyler Post